Thy Forsaken Soul: Disturbance in the Peaceful Era
by morbid333
Summary: Book One: Squall Leonheart never wanted to be a hero but when fate plunges him into battle he must face the emotions he has shunned and rely on the friends he never wanted. Rated M for violence, offensive language, adult themes. Standard pairings
1. Chapter I Squall Leonheart

**Thy Forsaken Soul: Book One**

**Thy Forsaken Soul  
****Book one: Disturbance in the Peaceful Era****:**  
Squall Leonheart never wanted to be a hero but when fate plunges him into battle with the leader of an entire nation, he must face the emotions he has shunned and rely on the friends he never wanted... but is Galbadia's president really the true threat to the world, or is there something sinister behind the secret meetings he has been holding with his newly appointed peace ambassador? Squall/Rinoa Rated M for offensive language, adult themes, drug use

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Chapter I: Squall Leonheart**

_Peaceful Era 17, June 1st, 0600_

The middle of the year was without a doubt, the busiest time in a student's life. The month of June was a time of the year that caused panic in some and accumulated stress in all for it was the month of June that was the testing period for students of the elite military academy and training facility known to the world as Garden. Everyone in the _world_ knew of Garden and held it in mixed views. Some saw it as a prestigious academy that trained elite soldiers while others saw it as a business run by a greedy money-grubber.

Yes, everyone knew of Garden, but no one among them could begin to calculate the mass expense it would cost to keep such a facility open – let alone to have various branches all over the world. All over the world, there existed only two large inhabited continents – Galbadia and Trabia. To the east and south, there were two more but both were assumed to be uninhabited. Near the centre of the world stood Balamb – the 'tropical island' continent, the smallest populated continent that had once been home to the Acauldian tribes.

The world – to some – may have seemed under-populated. The world was constantly changing; technology was constantly being improved, upgraded and modified to fit purposes within the military of each nation. The threat of war loomed constantly over the Earth like a blanket of shadow. The last big war had been between the dictatorship-ruled eastern continent known as Esthar and the rest of the world. After the fall of their great and terrible leader – Adel, the people of Esthar grew quiet and disappeared off the face of the planet.

The end of what was forevermore to be known as the 'Great Sorceress War' should have brought a time of everlasting peace – this however, was not the case. Even before the war ended, the Republic of Galbadia had begun invading its neighboring countries of Dollet, Timber and the village of Winhill. It was thanks to _these_ acts of domination that Garden was able to make such a large turnover. The purpose of Garden was to train elite soldiers who would enlist in armies all over the world. These soldiers were sent equally to different nations so that the balance of power did not shift too much.

Besides training these soldiers, garden had another purpose – to train a kind of soldier even more elite than the first. This second group of soldiers consisted of combat specialists – elite mercenaries known only by the codename SeeD.

It was a known fact that the majority of SeeD missions involved defending land and citizens from the attacks of the Galbadian army. The road to becoming t SeeD was hard and required tough, arduous training schedules designed to ensure that only the strongest and most disciplined could qualify. Students between the ages of fifteen to nineteen could apply for the SeeD exam which took place after a month of grueling exercises, drills and examinations that covered the majority of what a SeeD would be required to understand in combat.

These were no mere physics finals, they were difficult tests that challenged students – sometimes beyond their physical limitations and even after completing the training and passing the final examination, the task was not yet over. Candidates then had to complete a real mission, picked at random from a total of five different missions chosen by a council of administrators.

Usually, first time candidates wouldn't be able to sleep, but this year all candidates slept soundly in their dormitories, with two exceptions. Two odd students battled on the blood stained battle arena known as Duel hill. A third time SeeD Candidate named Seifer Almassy and his Leather-clad rival, the only other in his generation to specialize in Gunblade training and the one Seifer himself rearguarded as his Ultimate rival, The quiet teenage Gunblader known to everyone as a 'lone wolf' and to his instructors as Squall. This brown-haired, black-clothed and blue-eyed warrior fought hard but could not match Seifer's skill. The tides of hatred and bloodlust flowed through him in this dark cold place, similar to the way the waves rolled up the golden sun-bathed beautiful beach surrounding the shore-town of Balamb.

The Battle was wearing him down like a steep uphill sprint would wear down an unfit couch potato; he was so tired that his mind seemed to be escaping him as if he were a hallucinating lunatic. He seemed to be getting flashbacks - fragments of memories, glimpses of events long since past, long since forgotten ... long since lost in the ever-expanding complex of his sleep deprived mind.

He saw them less as memories, more as visions, hundreds of lost thought shards, each transition blurring the metaphoric line between fantasy and reality. Each vision was accompanied by a deadly attack as if the Gunblader's life were flashing before his eyes. Each hit resulted in a flashback and each flashback in turn distracted the unfortunate victim long enough for another attack by Seifer. It was a deadly cycle sending the young man in black closer to the verge of insanity ... sending him closer to the verge of death. Each flashback hurt and disturbed him strongly, what were they? ... Were they real? ... Why were they coming to him now? The most disturbing of all to him, was the question of why he couldn't recall any of these events. It was as if he were remembering someone else's life.

_He saw people surrounding him in the middle of a courtyard, _

Next he saw a blade heading strait for his face. In an instant, his vision was recalled and he was granted yet another fantasy. The fighters' final vision was the most vivid of all. It was the clearest and the most painful.

_He remembered himself looking up to a kind woman with non-discriminated accusation. Betrayal could be found in his then still innocent eyes. A woman whom he had always admired, someone who was like a mother to him but had had betrayed him. This event would shatter his trust in people forever. Because of this, he would loath his matron with all of his seven year old heart... _

_Seven year old heart, He was seven? How, And more importantly, why was this happening? Why couldn't he just fight the rival whom he despised oh-so much?_

This gave him so much to ponder on and he knew, no matter how much he loathed the idea, he would be thinking about this over the next few nights. It would add to the ever-growing list of things to ponder over during every sleepless night for the rest of his life. How could his subconscious have taken him back to what was supposedly ten years in his past, and why was matron just standing there, when Sis was in trouble, he had to do something...

_He was standing outside a stone beach house. He had short brown hair with bangs that did not quite reach his eyebrows. Standing before him, was the one he once called his Matron. Across from her, four men possibly in their early twenties held their struggling captive. "Sis" he called from his first person account. _

_"Sis, Come back! Bring her back!" He was screaming at the men in white uniforms, men who remained completely calm and kept completely controlled emotionally, but they were not above hitting a child who tried to interfere. Sis was screaming her lungs out and using every ounce of vitality she possessed trying to get away from those who seemed emotionless. _

_"Squall!!" she was screaming so powerfully and with so much treble in her normally quiet peaceful voice that it was difficult for Squall to even understand the noise she was emitting from her strained vocal chords but still, she continued to shriek like a harpy being roasted alive on an open flame for ones twisted amusement. "Squall, help me! Don't let these guys take me!" the eleven year old was literally crying as she yelped for help. "Matron, how can you let them take me? Please!__**"**__ she yelled with tears running down her face._

_"Shut the fuck up you little bitch!" one of the men scolded Sis, swiftly thrusting forward his palm into Sis's throat, restricting her air flow and knocking the wind out of her body, taking with it her consciousness._

_"Mind your language Kalder, remember where you are." the man in front – evidently the leader of the four calmly stated._

_"What...? Listen, we don't need __no__ little bitch like that moaning and screaming like no fucking whore!" Kalder furiously retorted "...sir" he added, not wanting to sound disrespectful to his leader and instructor._

_"That may be you're personal and private opinion Kalder, but I'd appreciate it if you'd keep it to yourself." The leader muttered quietly and then bowing to the woman before him, he stated "Matron, I sincerely apologize on behalf of my subordinate. He is rash and requires further discipline. He certainly does not speak for the rest of us."_

_"No, that's your job isn't it" Kalder spat "you damn control freak!"_

_The leader ignored his remark and bowed down low again to Matron and said "I thank you for you're non-interference my matron. Rest assured, we know of the white army's threat to the girl and we will do everything in our power to protect her. I bid you farewell, my matron."_

_"NO!" Shouted the young Squall Leonheart, finally summoning the strength and courage he required. "I can't let you take her! I won't let you take Sis!" he charged at them but his untrained seven year old body was no match for these soldiers. Kalder simply picked him up by the back of his dirt-covered bright orange T-shirt as the leader simply told him calmly and quietly "relax kid; your sister is going to be all right. We are __SeeD__. We are just taking her for her own protection. She will not get back into military hands. I promise." Kalder then threw the young boy to the ground at his feet with excessive force._

_As he slipped out of consciousness, the young boy witnessed Sis's body being dragged along the ground with disregard. This point in time was Squall __Leonheart's__ first experience of hatred but he had no strength he could use to do anything about it as Sis was slowly dragged off by the men calling themselves 'seeds', then there was darkness, the dead quiet unconsciousness of his mortal slumber._

Ten years after the traumatic experience of his childhood, after the loss of the sister he never knew he had, but one month prior to his fight with Seifer on Duel Hill, Squall Leonheart-the last surviving descendant of the knights of León, had no idea that said experience had affected him in any way. His train of thought could never have perceived the concept that he had been manipulated for the entire duration of his life. His constant losses to his training partner and rival; Seifer, had forced him into an obsessive training regime which was making both he and his rival Seifer the most powerful cadets in the academy. If only he knew that his training with Seifer was an idea not conceived by him...

He got up off his Dorm room bed already wearing a white T-shirt and his trademark black leather pants. He slowly walked up to the large black case leaning on the wall near the door and opened it. He picked up the weapon inside, inspected it thoroughly and began to clean and polish it with Hearthless brand weapon polish. Unaware of the complications his destiny held in store for him, he was equally ignorant of his past just as he was of his future. Oblivious to the events taking place in the present, his only focus was on wiping that smug smirk off of Seifer's sneering face. He was determined to beat Seifer in a duel even if it killed him.


	2. Chapter II Rinoa Heartily

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era:  
**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Chapter II: Rinoa Heartily**

The sky was a perfect cloudless blue. The clear waves, bringing with them a gentle ocean breeze, roll onto the smooth golden sand shores of the most perfect coast you could possibly imagine. It was a fine day to be at the beach, not that that mattered to Rinoa Heartily. The now seventeen year old had pale skin, contrasting perfectly with her brown eyes and naturally long black hair, dyed with pink highlights.

She was alone, worried and had her face contorted into an apprehensive expression of anxiety, a combination between frustration and fear, almost in tears. Not your typical teen at the beach.

Rinoa Had looked everywhere for him, but she couldn't find him anywhere. She had frantically searched the entire continent of Galbadia but she couldn't find Seifer Almassy anywhere. He had told her to meet him, but she just couldn't remember where. She could hear his voice in her head like a recording but she couldn't uncover any valuable information from the memory.

She had searched everywhere, the smooth shores of lapin Beach and the rocky barren wastelands of the dingo desert. She had even searched the seemingly endless void of land they call the great plains of Galbadia. Seifer's voice was ringing in her ears. The voice was talking to her in perfect clarity.

She recalled a conversation she'd had with Seifer at an unknown time and an unknown place. She specifically remembered Seifer saying "I'll be here" When she questioned him, he replied "I'll be waiting … here"

"For what?" she had asked. After a long pause, Seifer finally answered with a smile

"I'll be waiting … here. So if you come here … you'll find me." That's all that she could recall of the last time she had ever spoken to Seifer Almassy.

They had promised to meet and watch shooting stars that night. Rinoa had been running all morning and was exhausted. She began to worry. Her heart was pounding against the inside of her chest and her lungs felt like they were on fire. By the time she realized that she couldn't go on, her exhaustion and muscles had made it physically impossible for her to continue running, so she stopped to rest and try to calm herself down.

Rinoa found that she was alone in the middle of a large green meadow surrounded by tall grass and wildflowers. Sitting on the moist grassy floor, she realized that there couldn't possibly be anyone around for miles. She was completely alone and stranded in the middle of the country. She could do anything she wanted and know one would find her.

Her mind instantly wandered back to one year ago when she and Seifer had spent the summer camping out in a meadow that looked exactly like this. All her memories from that fateful summer came flooding back to her and as the memories played back through her mind, her excitement grew.

It all started as a nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach which grew and grew until she began to feel sick. She could taste the acidic liquid as it crept into the back of her mouth. She swallowed back the bile before it caused her to vomit. The last time she was that excited, that anxious, the last time she almost gagged of her own fluids, she was...

Seifer, Where was he? Come to think of it, where was she?

As she tried to figure out where the hell she was, she noticed a large flower. It had big white petals with a thick long healthy green stem. She didn't know why, but she seemed drawn to the flower, she was captivated by it. It occupied her every thought. She wanted to see it up close, to smell its fragrance. She needed it.

Just as she bent down to pick the flower, a strong wind blew the petals away, putting them just out of her reach and taking with them her strange obsession with the flower. This strange feeling was replaced with sadness, total and utter hopelessness.

Just as she stood up strait, one of the petals fluttered close to her as if it wanted her hand to wrap itself tightly around it. She caught the petal in her right hand but then, when she opened her hand she was shocked to find that the petal had changed from an ordinary flower petal, into a white feather. The feather was picked up by a gentle breeze which blew it up, away, out of sight and leaving her alone with the puzzling challenge of trying to figure out how she managed to end up here in the first place.

Two more long hours had passed since Rinoa had started looking around again. She had searched all over Galbadia, Balamb, even Trabia and she had spent all her money on train tickets. She could feel tears forming in her eyes. She had no food, no money and was completely stranded alone and lost on the snowy terrain of the icy cold arctic continent of Trabia.

She was hysterical. She was starting to feel sick once more. She brought up more bile as she dry wretched the non-existing contents of her empty stomach onto the icy ground, staining the ground around her and leaving her trace so anyone passing may be able to find her body wasting away as she wandered the icy Continental land mass alone.

The world was beginning to spin around her as she began loosing her senses one by one. A cold sweat broke out on her back as shivers went down her spine. Her limbs went numb and she dropped down to her knees as she began throwing up her guts, putting strain on her bowels, intestines and stomach, causing severe pain both physically and emotionally.

The next thing she knew, Rinoa Heartily was in a low collapsible bed on a slow moving train near Timber, Screaming. She had woken from a dream, a nightmare. She was crying. Her face was covered in tears and her body was drenched in sweat.

_Peaceful Era17, May 1st, 0400_

As she realized where she was, she tried to wipe the sweat from her face but it was no use. She was covered in so much of the salty mixture made up of her own sweat and tears that it caused her long hair to cling down and stick to her face.

She could just imagine Seifer telling her it was "Just a fucking dream" and suggesting that she "shut up and grow up." Those may be crude words, but at least she knew that he cared... sort of. At least he would be there, even if he slept the whole time, his presence would still be a comfort, which is more than she could say about her fellow resistance fighters.

She found it strange that no one on the train even cared enough to show them self and ask if she was all right. The other members of her small resistance group were the closest thing she still had to friends but none of them could be bothered checking up on her. They didn't care about her, none of them. They didn't give a damn. She was more of a burden on them all than a real team member anyway.

She remembered when she first arrived in timber. She didn't really care about the resistance; to be honest she only left the big city to get away from it all. She needed to get away from the aggravation, the anger, the gangs of teenage junkies and the angst. But most of all; she needed to get away from... **him**. She needed to get away from the man who stood for everything she rebelled against. She had to get as far away from that proud callous bastard. She had to get him out of her life. She would do anything to get away from the president's military lapdog, the general of the Galbadian army, General Fucking Caraway.

She needed a shower to clean herself of all the sweat. She despised everything about sweat, its cold wet sticky touch and its stale smell, everything about it. If she didn't clean herself, she'd have that sour; stale body odor surrounding her all day. As she washed herself, she couldn't help but reminisce all kinds of memories, good and bad as they came flooding back to her.

_When Rinoa first arrived in timber, she looked around at the country bumpkin town with upper-class disgust. She couldn't believe how many of the rumors about this place were true. She would never have believed that the air around here was even thicker with dust than the city from which she used to live. _

_She could feel the eyes of the citizens staring at her with curiosity; and with good reason. Everyone here must've known her face; she was seen by most as a spoiled rotted daddy's-little-princess, living in luxury off the money her father gave her all the time without a care, when all the while people here were suffering, all because of the army's occupation in this town._

_If Galbadia's President weren't such an arrogant son of a bitch, maybe he'd look past his own reflection and see the world for what it really was, similar to what Rinoa was doing at this moment. Maybe then, he'd see that this occupation is just a waste of time. It gave her a strong sense of guilt, She'd been living it up in that mansion while this..._

_Rinoa saw a few children, about the age of ten whom she assumed to be digging a hole. She had no idea what the hole was for, but she began to stare at one of the children. She knew she was being watched, but she found that her body didn't want to budge. She found her mind judging them, "poor kids, I'll bet they think this is the good life" she thought to herself. _

_Although she was standing awkwardly in the middle of the road and she knew she was being glared at – they all probably knew her face – she had the uncontrollable urge to stare away at the child digging a hole in the ground with a broken shovel. She needed to know what the hole was for. Were they digging for something, were they uncovering something, or were they just digging for the sake of digging? Perhaps this was what children around here did for fun. Maybe this was their idea of a game. _

_Without thinking, her long barely covered legs were driving her towards the child. She was about to ask what they were doing and if she could help. She had almost approached them when she heard a "clank" on the pavement below her feet. She looked down to see she had dropped a coin. _

_It was a large round platinum metallic coin with "500G" inscribed delicately unto the center. It was a five hundred gill coin, merely small change to her but it could have meant a small fortune to the people living around here – enough for an entire week's stay at an averagely priced hotel. She was tempted to leave it on the ground for the townsfolk to squabble over, but decided against it. She decided to give it to the children. Surely people this poor wouldn't be against receiving charity._

_She bent down to retrieve the coin but when she looked ahead of her, she was shocked by what she saw. She wasn't expecting everyone to gather around her. She didn't even expect any one person to come up to her. She looked up and was met by a pair of lust-filled eyes. They belonged to a very hairy hungry looking man much older than her. She noticed the hungry lustful eyes were looking her up and down, taking in every inch of her appearance. _

_The eyes moved up from the bottom of her feet, up her legs to her thighs, then came to rest at her chest. The older man wearing a grey tank top was dripping with perspiration, the stale substance oozing out of his skin like water slowly passing to the surface of a drain blockage. _

_His musty odor forced its way into her nasal canal, causing her to wince from the stench. His eyes were still transfixed on her... looking down at her, his long piercing gaze seeing through the frail fabric of her top, seeing what lay beneath, Seeing her, Staring at her with eyes – open wide, Drooling all over her young tight teenage body. She'd received stares like those before from guys in the city. _

_It always made her feel proud of herself knowing that her body could attract so much attention, but now... she didn't feel pleased with herself at all. This mans stare... maybe she wouldn't have minded, if he weren't a dirty old man desperately in need of a shower. This mans stare, she received no pride, no glory, no smugness or self-satisfaction from it. It merely made her feel sick. It made her feel physically sick – physically sick to her stomach. _

_Blushing slightly, she jumped to her feet and took a step back. "C-c-can I h-help you?" she stammered, a little embarrassment showing on her face and in her voice._

"_Yeah" replied the older man, "You c'n gimmee that there money along wif any more you got"_

"_Nah, its okay" Rinoa replied coldly, regaining her composure "I think I'll pass"_

"_You don' understand. You don' gotta choice." He told her_

"_Is that so? I didn't realize there was a toll to pass through bum-town." She told him, declining to give him her money and opting instead to give it to the children she had seen digging, then at least they'd experience the joy of... well... joy, for once in their bleak little lives._

"_Chap'n..." The man said. When nobody answered, he repeated himself with increased volume, adding "Get your ass over here boy!" After a pause, the boy Rinoa had been watching appeared beside the older man, staring at his own bare feet. She suddenly noticed how malnourished he was. "Well," the older man said to the boy "C'mon boy, look up at the young lady. Look at 'er in those beau'iful brown eyes of 'ers."_

_With that the boy slowly looked up at Rinoa and as their eyes met, she noticed a network of bruises and cuts on his face and a troubled look in his eyes. "Boy, now you look the young lady in her pretty little eyes and beg." The older man said impatiently, elbowing the boy sharply, hitting him in what was probably a covered up bruise causing him to flinch. _

_Rinoa then felt even sorrier for the boy. When the boy said nothing, the man hit him again and again until he looked her in the eye and spoke._

_When The Boys eyes met Rinoa's own widening eyes, she thought she could see into his broken spirit. He finally spoke up "y-yes miss... He's r-r-right. I... I on-only want your money. When she shook her head, the older man stepped forward and the boy flinched. _

_Rinoa took her left hand out of her pocket and kneeling down, she offered it to the boy who slowly and reluctantly took hold of it, the smaller hand's coldness violently contrasting Rinoa's own body warmth causing her to gasp out loud in surprise._

"_You know, I'd have willingly offered you my money, If only that man hadn't forced you into asking." She broke apart the handshake and stood up as the boy continued to stare at his hand as though transfixed by its complicity._

_As the vile village-peasants of Timber began to advance on the teenage girl, no one noticed that the boy's wide eyes were transfixed on the green paper crumpled up in his hand. He examined it and saw the numbers pressed unto the paper in vivid black ink._

"_20k"_

_The girl had slyly and secretly placed twenty thousand Gil in the boys unworthy palm. He'd never even seen so much money in his life. He didn't have time to think however, because he heard the girl whisper for him to run, a request which he could gladly fulfill._

_Rinoa's conscience was clear, but her own fate was not. What would she have to do to get out of this predicament? Before she had time to consider her options, the older mans fist came into contact with her face, causing her to jerk awake._

She was in the shower, leaning diagonally against the shower walls. Her feet were at one end of the shower and she was leaning on the wall at the other end of the shower with her face and shoulders, the warm water running down her back. Turning off the water and wrapping a towel around herself, she walked back to her bed and positioned herself comfortably under her blanket.

She wondered what had caused her to have that particular dream. It was a welcome change from her regular nightmares about searching for Seifer, but still she hated that dream so much. She may hate that dream, but she wouldn't mind so much if it really had been a dream and not an old memory that still continued to haunt her nightmares.

Not only did it show the dark side of humanity, it showed a contrast from what she thought a regular life should be like, but she saw that _hers_ was the delusional daydream she called a life. As much as she didn't want to, her subconscious was going to force her to face one of her worst memories.

Before sleep overtook her, she caught a glimpse of the full moon. It was rare to see the moon in timber just as it was in Galbadia. She gaped at it in awe and wondered what Seifer could be doing all the way in Balamb. She assumed that he would be sleeping now and as she let out a big yawn, she began to do the same.

As Rinoa drifted in and out of her dreams, her mind was taking her back to that one place in history. The dream was not one she would have liked, had she a choice. She had no control over her dreams however and was forced to endure the show of her bitter past. As her face contorted into frowns, inside her head her mind was sending her racing back in time to one year in her past.

_Standing surrounded in one of the many slums surrounding the run-down forest-surrounded Galbadian occupied country bumpkin town known as Timber – a small struggling community that was once a blissful self-economized republic, Rinoa heartily felt stranded. She was alone, excluding the below-working-class near middle age gorillas overpopulating this area staring at her with lustful smirks._

"_Well now" the nearest man resembling an ape calmly said to her with sadistic amusement apparent in his gruff voice "It seems you just lost me my slave"_

_An image of the boy Rinoa had attempted to rescue flashed into her head. "Slave?!" she gasped "I thought he was your son or something."_

"_Who ses he weren't?" the man asked her "he c'n be bof c'nee?"_

"_You're a twisted..." Rinoa began but was cut off_

"_Don' you gedit? You took my slave away fr'me. You owe me my reparation!"_

"_But... I-I don't have any money"_

"_Doncha lie ta me bitch! You got it there in your han'"_

"_Fine" Rinoa said tossing the coin at the man, who caught it in his hair covered paw "but that's all I have. Honest."_

_The man examined the five hundred gill coin closely as though (and Rinoa reminded herself that this was probably true) he had never seen real cash ever before in his cruel hard life. "...It's a start... I suppose" he finally stated._

_With that statement Rinoa had to gasp in worry. "But I- But you- but I- ... But- But that- that's all I have" she was finally able to dribble out._

_To Rinoa's horror, her panicky stuttering had caused the man's grin to significantly widen until she was sure she was staring at the mug of the creep who conceived the textbook definitions of pure cruelty and lust._

"_I never said nothin' about money did I?" the twisted man asked her coolly._

_Rinoa's eyes widened dramatically and her breathing seemed to stop when she realized what the man was after. She tried to back away but realizing it was no use, she lost all hope and painfully dropped down onto her knees._

_The man reached down and felt the soft black cotton of her T-shirt and made a remark about its soft touch. "You c'n start by givin' me this." He said cruelly._

"_No..." she breathed_

"_Hurry up bitch! Take the damn thing off"_

_Rinoa closed her eyes tight, began hysterically shacking her head and screamed as loud as she could but it wouldn't help. There was nothing she could do._

"_It's alright" he told her with obvious mock care in his voice. "You're not gonna be needin' it no more."_

"_But I... I'm not wearing anything else... under this" she said quietly, her cheeks reddening slightly, her eyes fixated upon the ground in embarrassment._

"_That's precisely the point. Now get it off!" he said while grabbing the T-shirt and aggressively pulling it up._

_As he pulled, Rinoa managed to get up and pull herself back, away from the man. This action however, did not bring about the desired effect. With Rinoa backing away and the older man's hand pulling on the thin fabric, it of course ripped right down the middle. This simply made her look like she belonged there. She no longer looked like the innocent visitor who simply made a wrong turn; she now looked like a prostitute dressed in an old torn rag. This could only have made the traumatic predicament worse for the sixteen year old._

"_Hey man, what did you have to do that for?" A man with long brown greasy hair wearing a filthy never-been-washed bandana around his head asked the lord-of-the-apes, who was still holding the material in his grubby mitt. "We could've pawned that, or kept it as a memento."_

"_Why keep this rag when we got the first division jackpot prize right here?" was the response._

_Rinoa was sure the men could sense the fear leaking out of her like the foul smelling liquid leaking out from a young lost child's full bladder._

"_I hope she still got some spirit left in 'er" the hippie said_

"_Of course she does" said the ape man "teenagers are all the same." He pulled Rinoa up by the hair so he could look her in the eye. "Aren't ya, you may resist now but you teenagers are all the same. You're all dirty little sluts at heart."_

"_I hope this'un lasts longer than the last one." The hippie stated_

"_I gotta feel she will" the ape man replied "It'll be a bit hard though." Looking at Rinoa, he asked her "so, think you're up to it? Our last sex doll lasted us almost six years. Yep, I sure am proud of my daughter. She lasted almost six years of taking us all in all the way before she slit her own throat."_

_Then, the hysterical Rinoa realized what this sick sexually frustrated freak had done, to his own flesh and blood no less. It was the life of a daughter for death of a mother, the birth of a daughter followed by the murder of a mother. Nineteen long hellish years would follow. Fourteen years of daily molestation, were followed by six years of daily rape. Nineteen long painful anguish filled accursed years of pure unfiltered hell. Nineteen years of abuse... followed by suicide on the day before her twentieth birthday._

_The ape man's unfortunate child had been the only source of entertainment for these men and now... now Rinoa would be unwillingly forced to become her replacement. She would be the one to endure the torment of acting as their living doll, to be forced into any pose of the bastard ape-beast's choosing, to take anything and everything that could and would be thrust upon her until the pressure would cause her to snap, leaving her with only one desire in the cold empty pit of her gut, the desire to be the one to take her own life, to end it all, once and for all and the rest of her existence, the final chapter of her now miserable and depressed life would begin..."_

"_...Begin." Rinoa was only able to catch the last word of the ape man's sentence, but had no time to think. Before she knew it, she found the man's hand slowly pulling down her black shorts and to her quick short panic stricken breaths; he told her "calm down." Then added with the most evil smirk she had witnessed yet "I know deep down you secretly want this just as much as I do. I can tell you really are excited." Then his hand went back down to where Rinoa's long pale legs met her waist._

_Before he could continue any further, the short silver barrel of a modern automatic pistol was pushed hard into the Ape man's face. "Touch even one of her hairs and you're a dead man." growled the cold deep voice of the stranger holding the gun._

"_Are you implying that this, girl needs a shave?" the ape man said to himself "hmm, maybe... aahh fuck it. I'll risk it" he said continuing where he left off_

"_I don't think you understand." The stranger told the ape man "If you harm one hair on her pretty little head, then you're as good as dead."_

_With that statement, the ape man let Rinoa go and looked up to meet the strangers cold set angry eyes. Rinoa turned around to look at the stranger too – Big mistake. This gave the ape man the opportunity he needed. With his right hand, he groped her right in the spot he was searching for, extracting a loud gasp and hoisting her up from the ground. Using his left arm, he clamped her to him by the throat, almost restricting her airway._

_This position was only beneficial for the ape man but at least it gave Rinoa a look at whoever was trying to help her. She saw someone with long brown hair down past his shoulders, slightly longer than Rinoa's hair. He had blue eyes. He wore mostly black... all black actually, except for the chrome colored choker chain around his neck and a large white insignia on his T-shirt supporting some underground band that was most probably popular about twenty years ago._

"_Oh come on." The ape man pleaded to the stranger with overconfidence "Let me have my fun." He then grinned as though he'd just had a thought "while my boys run you the hell out of our town."_

"_That's a good proposition" the stranger replied, unfazed by the threat "but I've got a better one. How about I take that girl there off your hands and you guys all get to keep your genitals."_

"_Can't we talk about this later, I got myself all excited over here and she's the only source of pleasure we got for miles."_

_The stranger then violently kicked Rinoa's leg, causing it to swing out of the way so he could get a shot in. The bullet sunk into the ape man's leg. This caused him to bend over in pain, giving the stranger the open shot he was looking for. He raised the barrel of his gun slightly so it was pointing directly at the man's groin at close range then without hesitation, fired one more round into the man. The screams could be heard for miles and they echoed off every wall. When motioned to, Rinoa quickly ran behind the stranger to keep out of his way and to keep herself safe from the men. But was she really safe with someone who could inflict that kind of pain and think nothing of it? Sure, he deserved it and everything but still... sometimes vengeance and justice seem so similar... until you begin to regret._

"_Fuck you!" rang the pained cries of the ape man, as the other men whom he referred to as his "boys" stood idly by and witnessed his pain__**.**_

"_You sick bastard" the stranger remarked "all the pain in the world is too good for you. When I'm through with you, you're all gonna wish for death. You'll prey for hell's relief!" He bent over the ape man and said "I'll start with you."_

"_Stop it!" Rinoa cried out at the stranger "You're just as bad as they were."_

"_Sorry, I just can't do that." The stranger began to explain. "You see, these rats have been a plague in this area for so long. I've been holding out for the right price, but now I think I'll just do it for free." At Rinoa's confusion, he added "Call me an exterminator if you will. An eradicator, an executioner, you may even go so far as to call me a murderer, I really don't care." He then turned back to the ape man. "You're all scum to me!"_

"_You're just as bad!" Rinoa shouted at him. She didn't know why she was defending the worst examples of human nature ever to be conceived in the murkiest alleyway, but she found she was unable to control herself. "You think you can use violence to solve every problem in the world but you can't. You're not helping. You're making things worse. You're just feeding the flames in the fire, fueling the cycle of hatred. The quest for revenge will never be over."_

_With Rinoa's opinion voiced, the stranger stood up, tilted his pistol and shot the ape man execution style in the head. He then turned to all the others and threatened them by telling them "I of course know all your faces and I have a photographic memory. If I see any of you motherfuckers ever again... you're gonna wish your parents knew the word contraception." With that, the men scattered and within a few minutes they were all out of sight leaving Rinoa alone with the stranger she knew almost nothing about (besides the fact he could easily kill her at any time) and the corpse of the ape man._

_She began to wonder who she would've been safer with, the residents of Bum Town or the stranger... but her line of thought was cut._

"_You know, normally I'd have left you to them when you said that to me" she heard the stranger say. She turned to see he had his gun pointing at her. "But I think you'll be more useful to me alive."_

"_You're joking right?"_

"_Do I look like I'm joking?"_

"_Oh. Aahh man" Rinoa said out loud. She didn't know what to do. "So nothing's really changed for me, has it?" she asked. As much as she would hate it and hate herself for it, she didn't have much of a choice. She could either give up and do whatever the hell this sadist wanted or risk an early excruciatingly painful death._

"_Come on, It's not that bad. I mean it's not like I'm a dirty old bent over pedo or anything. Also, there's only one of me and I'm only a few years older than you I'm guessing."_

_Rinoa's eyes seemed to drop to the ground. The stranger walked close to her and knelt down right in front of her. "You know I let those bastards off easy, right?"_

"_Wow, how generous of you" Rinoa replied sarcastically, remembering what the stranger had done to the ape man._

_The stranger pointed his gun once again at Rinoa and quickly said "You should take care to mind where your mouth goes. Whatever comes out of it could get you in trouble... and for the record; I'd usually kill you for talking to me like that. Just remember, you owe me. I saved you from a fate worse than death. Your debt has transferred from them... to me. I own you now." He then put his gun in its holster and beckoned for her to follow, which she did... slowly._

"_So..." Rinoa began "where are you taking me? Do you have a house around here or something?"_

"_No..." the stranger told her "I want to take you to meet a friend of mine."_

"_A... friend?" she breathed with uncertainty_

"_Yeah, I can't be seen walking around town with you looking like a whore now, can I? It looks like I'm gonna have to get you some new clothes. Don't worry so much." He said in response to the way Rinoa was looking at him. There's only gonna be about seven of us, total."_

"_Seven!?"_

"_Well, actually it's eight... including you."_

"_Eight!? Eight people? But... but we haven't even been introduced."_

"_fine." The stranger said "You can call me Kane."_

"_Alright then, hi Cain my name is..."_

"_I'm just gonna assume you said it wrong. Everyone does." He interrupted._

"_Ah, yeah" she said, not wanting to contradict such a dangerous man._

"_You see, most people think its spelled C-A-I-N but that's not how I spell my name. You know why?"_

"_Why?"_

"_Alright, I'll tell you why, because my stupid father was a fucking dyslexic hippie who couldn't even read, let alone spell." As he spoke, Rinoa felt her fears creeping back as Kane's anger increased with each spoken syllable. "...In the end, as it turns out, I was named after the fucking hippies goddamn walking aid, K-A-N-E – KANE!"_

"_Oh, I ah... I see..." Rinoa said, still uncertain of the difference, playing along anyway out of fear. "Alright then, hi Kane" she said again, repeating her own introduction which was previously interrupted by Kane. "My name is..."_

"_I know who you are" he interrupted once again, to Rinoa's surprise. "At least I think I do. Your name escapes me for the moment, but no matter. We have other places to be._

"_How do you know me, if you don't mind explaining?"_

"_Everyone knows your face, Even if it can't be placed... or traced back to you. Come, we've wasted so much time already and we have many miles yet to cross. I hate to be late so we'd better hurry."_

"_...but why do you care what I look like? Why bother wasting your money on me? Why get me new clothes?"_

"_I already told you. I don't wanna be caught with a whore. I don't wanna ruin my reputation... or yours. Your future is what you make it. Don't ruin it for yourself by making a few bad decisions now."_

"_But why?" Rinoa asked yet again. "Why do you care so much about me? Aren't you just gonna use me up and throw me out into the trash?"_

"_No, I actually respect you more than that. I think more of you than the attraction those old men felt for you. You're more than a lifeless body lying there to be ravaged time and time again. You have a mind. You have a soul. Why not put 'em to good use." This statement gave Rinoa a lot to think about. "...or not. You can lie back and take the money of middle aged strangers if you want. Hey, it's your life. You can waste it any way you choose."_

"_You know, that's not a very positive attitude you've got."_

"_Well, I guess that means I'm not a very positive person, then... doesn't It." He spat sarcastically with putrid bitterness and hatred which seemed to come from nowhere. "Hurry up. We should've left a long time ago. You go on ahead and I'll direct you to where you need to go. That way I can keep my eye on you. We should hurry now. No more talking until we get there."_

_They walked for a few minutes, Rinoa in front by twenty steps. She was unsure what destiny held in store for her. She didn't even know how safe she would be with the man who saved her but things still seemed to be alright for the moment. These short few minutes of peace would not last. Things were about to get worse._

_One second, Rinoa was walking strait ahead. The next, she felt a hand grab her leg just below the knee. "Fuckin'... Bitch..!" came the rasp of the weak middle-aged man clutching her leg- trapping her in his vice-like grip, rendering her unable to move. Her heart rate was rapidly increasing to rates of agonizing speed._

_Her heavy breathing soon turned into uncontrollable gasps. Her mind began racing in circles around her, then she remembered Kane. She turned her head around and saw him slowly strolling toward her like a millionaire taking a leisurely walk around his grounds._

_When he finally caught up to Rinoa, his facial expression was completely neutral. Without making any unnecessary muscle movements or even stopping, he quickly kicked his right leg up at a one hundred and forty degree angle, causing the middle-aged man to loosen his grip on Rinoa as well as popping him up into the air. While he was in the air, Kane drew his pistol and fired two shots into the man. When the man landed in a graceless heap on the hard lifeless cement floor of the abandoned area, Kane stood over him and fired one final shot into the man's head, killing him execution style._

_Kane looked a little further up the road and saw a young boy. "You know him?" he asked Rinoa, she looked up and saw the same boy she had seen digging, the same boy she had given most of her money to in a vain insistence of charity, the boy who caused her to be in her predicament. It was entirely this young boys fault. Wasn't it? Then again, she didn't have to give away so much of her remaining cash. Growing up alone is hell. It makes you mature too quickly. Now Rinoa couldn't even put the blame on somebody else- a useful technique that had gotten both she and her giggling group of rich heiress type friends out of trouble countless numbers of times in the past. She had no one to blame. Her own upper class habits had caused her to endanger her own life._

"_What are you doing here?" she asked the young boy with surprise and more volume than she meant to use._

"_I... I got no where ta go ma'am"_

"_Oh" she said in response to the boy._

"_Here." He told her handing back the money she had donated_

"_No... That's yours. You need it more than I do."_

"_But It's not right" the boy admitted "You got me away from my family and away from this area. That's something I can never repay you for so I can't accept anything more."_

_Rinoa saw the bitter meaning behind the boys words and could think of no argument, but didn't feel comfortable taking so much money from someone this unfortunate. She had no idea what to do... until Kane spoke up."_

"_I have an idea. Come with us into town and I'll give you instructions on where to go from there."_

"_...All right..." the boy said after a while, just as uncertain as to what awaited him for the next twenty four hours as Rinoa was. And that was how it was decided. The three different travellers walked slowly, making rest stops every half hour so that Rinoa and the boy could rest their sore tired legs and feet. She seemed safe enough but Rinoa was still unsure about the man slightly older than her, the one calling himself Kane. With the kindness that he showered her with in his left hand, he easily took back using his right hand, tearing out the heart of anyone in his way- definitely not someone she wanted to get on the wrong side of. She'd have to be extra careful when talking to him to avoid upsetting him. She just preyed to Hyne that he wouldn't ask anything of her that could cause her to anger him by refusal._

_Since Kane had been moving so slow, to compensate for his company's lack of physical training, it had taken a whole day to travel a distance which would normally take him a few hours. Not that he minded of course, he was almost back at Timber anyway._

_As Rinoa and the young boy rested nearby, he looked strait ahead at the stone entrance to the town of Timber. Age had started to settle into the stone structure, turning it from grey to a decayed yellow-brown colour. He made eye contact with the pitiful Timber soldiers guarding the entrance to the town. They weren't much of a fighting force, just a couple of uniformed has-beens well past their prime. This was all that remained of the great Timber army._

_At the top of the structure was a spinning wooden wheel. It spun around and around but covered no ground. No mater how fast the wind blew it, it could never escape and would never get anywhere. It was no different from the people living in this run-down place._

"_Hey... you!" called one of the guards, immediately severing Kane's train of thought like a razor._

"_What!?" Kane spat impatiently_

"_You just can't come in here."_

"_...And why the fuck not?" Kane asked the guard casually._

"_Aahh... well now there's no need for that language"_

"_...I don't see your point. Anyway... are you really gonna stop me from getting in? I don't see how you can."_

"_Sorry lad, but I've been ordered to use as much force as necessary to stop anyone getting in or out."_

"_Don't make me hurt you, I've already got blood on my hand but I'd prefer if you'd just take this bribe" he said indiscreetly while showing a green '20k' note._

"_Well, that's mighty generous of you boy but I gotta job to keep."_

"_And I gotta schedule to keep so either take my bribe and stay the fuck outa my way... or your sad life has gotta end on this gloomy dull day."_

"_If you really want to, you can bribe me to let you live." The guard told him snatching the twenty thousand gill from Kane's hand "now get out of my sight."_

"_Then it looks like we're gonna have to do this my way. It's a real shame. I'm meant to be fighting to protect you fuckers... but hey, sacrifices must be made when necessary, right?" As the two men stood there smugly exchanging arrogant threats, neither of them noticed Rinoa who had apparently been listening in on the conversation, walk up to join them._

"_Kane?" Rinoa asked._

"_Yeah, what is it?" Kane asked her in response, his tone a little softer._

"_Don't fight them... please. Yesterday I saw you kill two people like they were nothing but vermin."_

"_They were vermin." Kane cut in._

"_Please. I don't want anyone else to die. The guards are just doing their job. Can't we walk to Galbadia and sneak in to town on the train?"_

"_Yeah, good luck with that plan." The guard cut in._

"_Do you know how long that'd take?" Kane asked Rinoa_

"_We have to at least try. You can't just kill anyone who crosses your path"_

"_...fine" Kane decided at last "wake up the kid. We're making a detour."_

_Just as Kane was leading Rinoa and the young boy past the border into the Great Plains of Galbadia, he chanced upon quite the coincidence. Just ahead of them was a train. It had no passenger cars, or any kind of car behind it. It was simply an engine unit. It had one major difference however, it's size. It was longer than most train engine units. It had space for the crew to live. It was a rust colour with a rounded front ending in a three inch spike protruding from the front of the train. Around the spike appeared the painting of a large skull. The sides of the train bared the graffiti of various taggers. "Well..." Kane said to his followers "looks like headquarters has come to us. Rinoa, we're here. The friends I told you about earlier are in this base."_

"_...In here?" Rinoa asked judgingly "but this is just a run-down train engine."_

"_This" Kane replied to Rinoa's outburst "Is the mobile base of the Timber Forrest Owls, A small resistance faction recently started by yours truly."_

"_The Forrest Owls" Rinoa repeated._

"_Resistance?" the boy asked with evident confusion in his voice._

"_That's right. I'm in the timber resistance. That means I resist... I'm trying to get those..." Kane stopped, unsure of how to tone down his language for the young boy, not that he believed in censorship. "You two get on the train and I'll introduce you to everyone" and with that, the three unlikely companions climbed the three steps up onto the train and into the custody of even more strangers, leaving Rinoa still uncertain of the fate awaiting her._

_On the train, Rinoa saw she was surrounded by the six men that Kane had told her about the day before. Most of the men were quite older than her but she saw a few around her age._

"_These guys drive the train" Kane began explaining to her_

"_My name's George" one of the men told her "and this is Harold" he gestured to a short well-built man "and this is Henry" he said gesturing to a tall thin man. All three of them looked to be in their late twenties._

"_Come with me" Kane told her._

_When they got to the next room, Rinoa saw two more resistance members. These were younger than the others. One looked the same age as her. The other was a year younger. "This is Watts and Zone" Kane told her._

"_This is only five, you said eight including you and me." Rinoa said._

"_There is one more" Kane told her with seriousness in his voice. "but these people aren't bad guys. They'll take care of you. You should be safe here, until you find your place."_

"_Are you at it again Kane? Stop filling her head with lies" a blond male, one year older that Rinoa said as he walked into the room, flashing her smile._

"_Rinoa," Kane said as he turned to look at her "this... is Seifer."_

Rinoa had been lying on her side for at least ten minutes before she realised she was awake. It figures, she thought to herself. She would have to wake up during the good part of her dream. Not wanting to be a burden on the forest owls, she decided that she'd better get up.

At first, she kind of thought it strange that none of the forest owls seemed to care about her. Maybe once Seifer and Kane would have worried about her, but they had toyed and tired of her and she began to doubt whether or not she would see either of them ever again. Watts and Zone acted nice to her face, but she was suspecting them of talking about her behind her back. She didn't want paranoia to ruin any friendships, but the conversations seemed to die down when she entered a room.

Fully dressed, she looked out the window. Security had been growing tighter and tighter since she arrived in Timber. The Galbadian military was tightening its grip on the town like a steel gloved hand crushing the head of a rose with excessive strength. She once again found herself wondering what had happened to Seifer. If SeeD ever came to liberate Timber, she hoped Seifer would be with them, like he was a year ago. She wondered what he would be doing at that exact moment, the way she often did. She preyed to Hyne that Seifer still thought about her the way she thought about him. She was getting desperate to see him again.

Then she had a great idea to help out the resistance, and see Seifer. Sending letters to Garden was useless. Everyone had told her that. The absence of replies told her that. She would accompany the next letter herself and plead to someone at Garden. Surely someone would help her. She would convince the administration of Garden to help the Timber resistance... somehow.


	3. Chapter III Mere Routine

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era:**

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Chapter III: Mere Routine**

_Peaceful Era 17, June 3rd, 0800  
_In the cold dark dungeon like Master's Room of Balamb Garden, Cid Kramer was preparing for a confrontation he was in no way ready for. Cid Kramer was headmaster and as such, he ran Balamb Garden in his office on the third floor.

Room B1 was more like a warlord's throne room than an office for Garden's proprietor. It was large, taking up an entire floor. It was cold and damp. It was also quite dark; having no windows to let in natural light. There was no source of ventilation, giving the room a dark murky environment and making it difficult to breathe. Then again, when Cid thought about it he decided this was not so shocking considering the Master's Room was part of Balamb Garden's basement.

Cid breathed heavily, waiting for his lungs to grow used to the change in atmosphere while he attempted to contemplate what he would say to the master, the only one who would have offered him the money to establish Garden in the first place.

He removed his glasses and placed them delicately in the top pocket of his shirt. As he scratched the scalp under his tidy brown hair, his kind wrinkled face and aged eyes reflected the thought crossing through the worn canal of his mind. He was getting too old for these confrontations that seemed to occur at every meeting he had with the pig-headed Master. Soon the stress would grow too great for him and he would be forced into retirement and the Master would take full control over Garden. Let that money-grubber handle the stress of running this place, he thought to himself. Of course, he would feel sorry for the students when that time came.

The Master was the kind of person who preferred to take shortcuts around any process in order to save time and money. "Cut every corner and make me rich" was the Master's motto.

Cid was brought back to the situation by the sight of a tall man who, like him was wearing brown formal trousers and shoes, a white shirt and a brown tie matching the sleeveless vest he wore over his shirt. This was the compulsory uniform of Garden administrators and faculty.

The difference between Cid's uniform and the tall man's was a large straw hat covering the man's bowed head and concealing his face. This hat identified them as Faculty. Faculty were seen as authority figures in Garden and as such, were singled out and despised even more than the power-abusing disciplinary Committee.

"Headmaster," the faculty addressed Cid "the Master will see you now"

"Thank you" Cid replied with a false smile and followed the Faculty to the end of the Master's Room to where the Master spent his life.

"...and to sum up the years work," a tired instructor announced to her uninterested class "you are all to write me an essay about the history, structure, overall running and so on of Balamb garden. Any questions?" the thirty year old asked her class.

"How long does it have to be?" one of the students in the front row asked

"There is no maximum or minimum word limit" the instructor explained, and received a slight murmur of relief at the ease of the essay "but be warned. The success or failure of this course will be decided completely by the grade of this assignment." At this, the murmur was promptly replaced by groans of injustice.

"But... But that's not fair Instructor." A student piped up.

"Hey" argued a blonde student at the back, who the instructor realized, was Seifer. "Shut up, would you? The instructor is trying to teach. Don't make me throw you back in detention" he threatened.

"No... You don't have to do that. I just got out of a whole two weeks of detention. If I miss any more class, I'm gonna be disqualified for the SeeD exam." The jittery boy responded.

"...class dismissed" the instructor announced to the class. "...Except Seifer and Squall" she added as the students began to shuffle out the door like a flock of sheep following a daily routine.

Down in the Master's room, Cid stood before the master's throne surrounded by faculty. The throne consisted of a large protective armor-plated pod where the Master sat. To either side of this pod stood a large blue orb, connected to the pod by the arms of the throne. The fat slob probably wouldn't survive without this life support system.

Suddenly, a thunderous voice, amplified and distorted by the throne-pod boomed and echoed off Cid's eardrums in an ancient and forgotten dialect that Cid could never possibly hope to understand.

"The master wishes me to tell you that it is time for you to present this month's paperwork" one of the faculties translated.

"Here" Cid said, thrusting a large red folder decorated with Garden's insignia and the words "31 April – 31 May PE17" towards the Faculty. "Could you please tell the Master to direct his questions directly to me?"

"Very well" the faculty answered as he pushed the folder in through a slot in the Throne's pod. After a few minutes, the Orbs connected to the Master's throne turned bright red and a deep guttural growl erupted throughout the room and didn't die down for over half a minute. This was a sound that could scare the most brutal of death metal heads shitless.

"Kramer!" sounded the infuriated roars of the Garden Master. "What the hell are you doing to me?! Garden is loosing money! You are loosing money, my money!"

"Master, with all due respect, There are more important matters to discuss than a slight deficit in funds."

"More important than funds, the world doesn't run on good will, Kramer!" the master roared in response, then added after a considerable pause "...I see my prized student is doing just as well as I expected. I just hope you can keep good on your word Kramer. Assure me that he will not be stuck teamed up with that slacker."

"Sir, I can assure you that Leonheart is no slacker. In fact, I think he is one of the hardest working candidates we've ever seen here at Garden"

"...you're right Kramer; Leonheart _is_ a hard worker, despite his obvious lack in talent."

"Lack in talent? I'll agree that his swordsmanship may not be up to Almassy's level of excellence, but please do remember that he is a year younger and since this is his first time as a candidate he has less field experience. Also remember they are both attempting to master one of the most difficult and deadly weapons at Garden's disposal. I think you'll agree both Leonheart and Almassy are both excellent students who stand a good chance of passing this year."

"...Very well Kramer, I'll call for you if I need anything else" the Master dismissed his associate.

Cid felt a sigh of relief escape his forty nine year old lips as he walked light heartedly toward the elevator that would take him up to his office on the Third floor.

"...Alright Seifer, you can go first." The Instructor told Seifer. "Why did you leave Squall's unconscious body on Duel Hill? You must know better than that." The instructor questioned Seifer after the rest of the students had shuffled to their next class.

"Well... yeah, and I felt real bad about it too. I was even gonna buy him a bouquet of flowers, but the store was closed. I couldn't have just visited him in the infirmary without flowers now could I?" Seifer said with mock care and concern.

"Cut the crap, this isn't a joke. It's a serious offence." The instructor snapped impatiently "you should've brought him to the infirmary yourself, or at least let the medic team know where he was. ...All right, I'll let you off with a warning, but this is the only time. You're dismissed.

Seifer then left the room with a triumphant smirk on his face. "Seifer Almassy," the instructor said to herself "I don't know what to do..." she then turned to Squall, who had remained quiet while the instructor lectured Seifer. "All right Squall, You know where instructor Trepe's class is right?"

"Yes" was Squall's barely audible reply.

"All right, she has asked me to escort you to her classroom so she can ask you some questions about the fight you had with Seifer. Can I trust you to go on your own? Or do I need to take you, because I'm kind of busy today.

"Yes"

The instructor assumed he meant she could trust him. He had never shown any kind of disloyalty before and always stood up to responsibility without complaint, or any comment whatsoever now she thought about it, even if it wasn't his fault and this was usually the case. She had no reason to doubt his word. "Go now then, before your next class. Instructor Trepe is waiting for you."

With that, Squall nodded and slowly made his way towards Instructor Trepe's classroom which was located in the west corridor of the second floor hall. Fortunately, He was in the west-most classroom in the east corridor of the Second floor hall, which meant he just had to walk strait down the hall to get to Instructor Trepe's class.

When he got there, he noticed the automated door wouldn't open, which was strange. Either it was faulty, or Instructor Trepe wasn't there. Nothing was going right lately, but what did he expect. All he could do was visit the Infirmary and ask the doctor where Instructor Trepe might be. If anyone could tell him where his instructor was, it would be either the doctor or the receptionist at Garden's entrance. He headed toward the infirmary.

Meanwhile, on an abandoned forest sheltered section of railway line, the temporarily stationary train-base of the Timber Forest Owls sat motionless as its passengers decided amongst themselves what action to take next. Of course, all the forest owls were not present in this discussion. No one had notified Rinoa that a strategy meeting was to take place that day.

When she casually strolled into the conference room at ten AM, the other forest owls immediately stopped talking and Watts slowly walked up to her. "Uh, hi... Rinoa" he said nervously "did you uh... sleep well?"

"What do you think?" Zone asked, criticising Watts' question with his own. "Didn't you hear her screaming last night?"

"Well if you heard her, why didn't you go check on her then?"

"Neither did you!"

"Well... I didn't want to wake her and get her mad!"

The two agued back and forth for quite some time and Rinoa saw why Seifer used to call them 'Dumb and Dumber.'

"...sorry sir" Watts eventually said to Rinoa, snapping her out of a daze

"Look at her" Zone criticized again "She's a girl! She's not a bloody Sir!"

"Can I cut in?" Rinoa asked nervously

"Sure" the two both answered at once and then looked at each other as if to say "hey, she was talking to me!"

"Do you need me here, really?" she asked them

"What, you mean at this meeting, sorry but... it's not really that important. Don't worry about it." Zone said as he unconvincingly attempted to reassure her.

"It's not just the meeting. Am I really part of this group? Do you really need me here?" she asked, imposing another question.

"Why? You wanna go on holiday or something?" Watts asked her rather stupidly. His question did nothing whatsoever, except maybe open the door to an eerie silence enjoyable by no one.

"Yeah, you've got us out of some tough situations in the past year." Zone reminded Rinoa.

"Is that the only reason you kept me here?" she asked, regretting her own question as she remembered the many occasions in which she had willfully demeaned herself for the forest owls.

"No, you really _are_ a valued member of our team, but if you want to go..."

"It's not that. I just wanted to know if I... I don't want to be a limp paperweight. I think I just want to help out. I know there'll be sacrifices I'll need to make, but I wanna help... if I can."

"All right" zone said "I'll involve you more in any operations we carry out. Watts is going out for research soon. Take it easy until then. When he gets back, we're all gonna have big jobs to do."

"If I can get SeeD to help..."

"If you can convince them, then that's great. Seifer was a good fighter when he was here. If we can get him back, who knows what we can do."

"All right, I'll keep sending letters to Garden."

"Yeah, you do that."

After the conversation, Rinoa left the room with higher spirits than when she entered.

Squall's Dormitory room, Dorm #D1ML was a double single dorm room. It consisted of three rooms; one large study and two small single rooms. He had remained in this room for the last two years without the distraction of a roommate, which meant he had the privacy of both rooms and the study to himself.

Since it turned out, Instructor Trepe was not present at Garden so had to cancel all her meetings and classes, giving Squall the rest of the morning off until 1100. He decided to do something useful and study for the theory exams he would have over the next four days.

Life at Garden, just like life at any other institute was structured around discipline and routine. 0800 was the time for four morning classes, each half an hour long. After an hour break, Students reported to their morning physical Classes, Two classes each an hour long. At 1300 students take another hour break for lunch. At 1400 students attend two more one hour long physical class.

That was the way it went education-wise at Garden. The month of June was the busiest month in a student's life. The second week of June consisted of theory examinations. These were basic enough. Each theory class had either a two hour exam or an assignment. Theory exams and assignments were always marked to the same marking schedule. Fifty percent correct meant a pass. Anything less meant failure.

A pass with sixty percent or more was magnificence, Seventy percent was excellence and one hundred percent was perfection. Squall studied the marking schedule to make sure it was the same as always. Of course, it was.

Squall's four theory courses were Garden study, physics, history and geographical studies. Tomorrow he would have his History exam. The day after would be physics. His other two theory courses did not have exams. They had assessments. These were simple essays. If he could convince the instructor that he understood everything through the use of an essay, he passed.

Squall would be studying during all his breaks that day, putting his spare time to good use and doing the opposite of his rival, the arrogant power abusing leader of the disciplinary committee; Seifer Almassy.

Seifer of course considered study a complete waste of time and constantly remarked about how anyone who can fit time for study into their daily schedule is in desperate need of a life. For all their differences however, they shared some similarities. For instance, they both performed poorly in theory classes and both excelled in combat; in fact it was Squall's obsession-like determination to beat Seifer in a duel that had earned him the title of most improved in his year-group.

Squall had little time to ponder this however, he needed to study in order to pass tomorrow's exam and the one thing he didn't need was thoughts clouding up his mind and shortening his attention span. If he didn't get at least a fifty percent average on his exams, there would be no place for him at Garden. Garden had strict rules about failure but Squall usually scraped by with the minimum results required to pass. He normally passed...just. But to be eligible to take part in the SeeD exam he would need a minimum of a seventy five percent average.

He was usually nervous at this time of the year, but this was the first time he knew he would fail. There was no chance in hell he would get over seventy five percent in every class. No chance...


	4. Chapter IV El Diablo

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era:**

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Author's Notes:**

Okay, so this chapter juggles back and forth between the past and the present a few times, so pay attention to the date I put at some of the paragraphs. Just remember, When about Squall, we're in the present. When about Rinoa, we're in the past discussing the aftermath of chapter two.

**Chapter IV – ****El Diablo**

_Peaceful__ Era 16, July 21, 1200_

"_Come with me" Kane told her._

_When they got to the next room, Rinoa saw two more resistance members. These were younger than the others. One looked the same age as her. The other was a year younger. "This is Watts and Zone" Kane told her._

"_This is only five; you said eight including you and me." Rinoa said._

"_There is one more" Kane told her with seriousness in his voice. "But these people aren't bad guys. They'll take care of you. You should be safe here, until you find your place."_

"_Are you at it again Kane?__ Stop filling her head with lies" a blond male, one year older that Rinoa said as he walked into the room, flashing the girl a smile._

"_Rinoa," Kane said as he turned to look at her "this... is Seifer."_

The Blonde; 'Seifer', was a little taller than Rinoa. He wore a blue vest and black pants under his grey trench coat. His green eyes lingered on Rinoa and her rag-like attire as a cruel smirk etched itself onto his face. "You been visiting those dodgy bars again Kane?" he sneered.

"No, found her wandering the streets...actually" Kane told him

"Oh, she's a street walker then is she?" Seifer replied "she seems kind of young for you though" he stated to Kane, who Rinoa guessed was in his early twenties but if this were true, it would make him look extremely young for his age.

"Go on" Kane said softly, addressing Rinoa "Tell Seifer how old you are"

"Si-sixteen" she answered nervously

"Sixteen eh, yeah... she's way too young for you." Seifer stated. He approached her and stroked his hand through her long black hair. "Too bad, she's just your type."

"I dunno, I think her hair could use some highlights, maybe a light pink, or possibly a reddish-brown."

"You sir, have a fetish" You're crazy for that look. You can't bring back the past. She died and..." Seifer's sentence trailed off as the look in Kane's eye told him he'd gone too far.

"If I didn't know I'd be rid of you soon, I'd make you suffer for that" Kane told Seifer calmly.

"So anyway, you got a name? Or did you sell that along with your dignity?" Seifer asked.

"I'm... My name's... I'm... I'm Rinoa. Rinoa..." she was interrupted by the expression on Kane's face before she could tell them her last name.

"Holy fuck" Kane cursed out loud "What the fuck? By Hyne's impaled corpse, what... the... fuck..." he said to himself "you're Rinoa, the pop-star's fucking daughter, aren't you?!"

"Pop star?" Seifer asked with interest.

"Yeah," Rinoa answered "I'm Rinoa Heartily"

"I thought your last name was..."

"My last name is heartily" Rinoa interrupted.

Kane nodded his head, showing that he understood. "So that's why you left the city."

"Why?" Seifer asked with curiosity.

"...Lets just say she had to leave Delling City to get away form a certain General."

"Fuck..." Seifer said "only sixteen and already making a scandal of yourself. How much are you making off this has-been anyway? ...Hey Kane, How much is she charging you by the way? She must be making a fortune off lonely guys like you."

"She aint a damn prostitute Seifer; she just made a wrong turn. I found her in one of the slums to the west of Timber" Kane informed him.

"Which one?" Seifer asked.

"...They call it ...Bum Town"

"_The... _bum town?!"

"That's right"

"Geez, it's a good thing you were passing by then. Someone like her... she'd be torn to shreds in less than a day. Literally, they probably didn't even know she was famous."

"They wouldn't have cared. Those bastards are the remnants of an entire generation of sick perverted white-supremacist gang-bangers... and Rinoa here just happened to be unfortunate enough to attract their leader and spark him out of retirement."

He turned to Rinoa "their leader was the one who looked and smelled like he was alive in the Stone Age. He abandoned his name decades ago for the alias 'The Wild One'. In his prime he was a notorious serial sexual predator, wanted worldwide. At some point, he got into paedophilia and wrote the dictionary of the perverse from there."

The expression on Rinoa's face went from shocked to horrified, but the discussion was not yet over. "They did manage to catch 'em once" Seifer added as if this were a Sunday morning discussion.

"Yeah," Kane added "but he escaped from that prison, after raping everything that moved...and some that didn't. You know all those stories about dropping the soap in the prison shower?" he asked Rinoa, who nodded "well he didn't give 'em time to bend over...or even to drop the soap."

"Not even the warden was speared." Seifer said.

"But that's nothing compared to what he did to his own flesh and blood" Kane said in response to Rinoa's horrified expression.

"wha..." Rinoa began but found it difficult to get the words out. All that escaped was the sound of her breath, her voice it seemed, was beginning to give out.

At this, Kane began to laugh. "You hear that, Seifer, she wants to know what he did."

"Yeah, I heard her" Seifer said through his smirk.

"Should we tell her?"

"I think we should"

"I'm Gonna tell her"

"Go on"

"Rinoa, you wanna know? You really wanna know?"

Rinoa, who was unsure whether she could take it or not, remained silent, her head seemed to nod slightly, without her consent.

"Well... I don't know it's been a tough few days. I don't know if you can take the gory truth" Kane warned her.

"Oh come on" Seifer said loudly "Quit your teasing and just tell her already!"

"...I...don't know..." Kane said. "But the short version, without details... Is that he used his daughter as his love slave... Strike that, she was a love doll."

"Yeah, that's a better description" Seifer commented.

"Did you know he fathered his own grandchild?" Rinoa looked like she was going to be sick. "Or he would've if the baby had the chance to be born. He impregnated her though. When she was eight months pregnant, he gave her a homemade abortion."

"And that's not all, is it?" Seifer added.

"...As soon as it was out of the womb..."

"What?" Rinoa asked, knowing in advance she would dread the answer.

"He raped the fucking foetus... till it was no more. She was sixteen."

Rinoa's heart skipped a beat. "That's... sick" she whispered.

"Yeah, he was one sick bastard alright. But he met his fate. It's a real shame though, I should've made him suffer more, should've given him a taste of what his victims felt, I should've given him a taste of what his daughter felt." His eyes locked onto Rinoa's. "A taste of what you could've felt."

"Wait wait wait a second..." Seifer started "Are you saying 'The Wild One' is officially dead"

"Shot 'em in the head" Kane responded "aint that right?" he said looking once more at Rinoa "aint that right?" he repeated. She nodded. "So, I'm going back to torch that whole place. You go collect the bounty. Take Rinoa with you."

"Oh and Seifer," he said before walking out the door "Make sure we all get a share this time." Seifer could only grin. "Seifer, when you get back, you should let Rinoa get some rest in the back of the train...but stay in the room with her and don't leave her alone. She may need some comforting after what she's been through.

"Yeah yeah" Seifer said in a bored voice.

"...And one more thing"

"What?"

"Don't treat her bad. I'm gonna have her tell me exactly what's happened to her when I get back... and if I find she's been uncomfortable in any way, It's coming outa your ass."

"Oh Kane..." Seifer joked putting on a feminine voice "I didn't know you felt that way about me. Now get going already would ya"

"Are you sure you're not Galbadian?" Kane asked Seifer with a grin before going out through the door.

_Peaceful Era 17, June 4__th__, 0830_

Squall awoke in the part of his dorm he used as a study to find his head resting on the pages of an open textbook. He had fallen asleep while studying late into the night. With luck, he would still make it in time for the exam. He looked at his watch for the time.

It was 0830. He was already half an hour late for his History exam. His mind began to panic but then his mental training suddenly kicked in and his panic was replaced by acceptance. After all, why should he expect any different?

He should have been prepared for this. He surely would've missed his exam now. Things never went Squall's way, so why should today be any different? His panic had been replaced by a feeling of emptiness in the pit of his stomach.

Seifer's taunts were coming true. Maybe he really wasn't destined to become a SeeD. He looked at his watch again only to find that time hadn't even moved forward, not one second. The second hand on his watch was not moving.

Trying not to get his hopes up and readying himself for his impending disappointment, he slowly walked toward the clock next to his bed. When he saw the real time, he felt a wave of relief rush to his brain-a feeling he was not used to and a feeling so powerful that it rippled through his mind and totally consumed his mind for a few milliseconds, although it seemed longer to him.

This was a sensation squall was not used to and it took what seemed like several minutes to die down. In reality, it only took seconds.

He looked back at the clock. He still had ten minutes until the exam started. If nothing went wrong, he just might make it to the exam. Passing it on the other hand, would be a completely different story.

Squall left his dormitory and pushed the button for the Dorm Elevator. There were three elevators that allowed travel to the different dorm rooms which were spread out like a three-dimensional grid, each room having a code number which was used to locate the room.

When the elevator car arrived, Squall stepped in and pressed the button for the ground floor, which contained most of Garden's facilities. The classrooms were on the first and second floors and the headmaster's office was on the third floor. The Master's room was in the basement.

Eventually, the slow moving elevator car reached the bottom of its shaft and Squall stepped out with just over five minutes to run southward from the dormitory corridor to Garden's central support pillar.

From there, he just had to take the elevator up to the second floor and then run to his history class in time to take the exam.

He pushed the button for the elevator.

"Ding"

The elevator doors opened and he stepped inside and mashed the button labelled '1F' and the elevator zoomed upwards to the floor above.

The elevator made it's "ding" sound again and the doors opened. Squall slipped swiftly out through the gap between the doors. The First floor was directly above the ground floor, which had eight different corridors, connected in the middle and branching out in different directions. The first floor had four corridors, connected in the middle and branching out in four directions; north, south, east and west. Squall's history classroom was room #1310. It was located right at the end of the south corridor.

Squall felt a slight cooling feeling of relief rush through him, although thankfully, it was nowhere near as potent as the rush he got when he first woke up. Finally, something was going right in his life. Finally things were going his way. He was almost to the room and he still had a few minutes to spare. He was there. He was going to make it. Then he saw it, a leg sticking out from an adjoining corridor.

He noticed it but had no time to react. The leg tripped him, causing him to loose balance long enough for an arm to grab him by each of his shoulders. The next thing he saw was a grey trench coat... blonde hair... green eyes... an arrogant smirk... he could focus only on the pain caused by a fist driven by a powerful arm smashing speedily and violently into his abdomen.

_Peaceful__ Era 16, July 21, 1200_

Rinoa and Seifer were walking through the town of Timber, heading towards the pub. There, they would claim the reward on 'The Wild One's" head. In the centre of the city, was a bridge-like area connecting the two halves of the town. On one side, the residential part of town. On the other was the commercial side.

Seifer and Rinoa stopped on this 'bridge' and looked down at the view. Rinoa was expecting to see some kind of landscape or forest. She was sorely mistaken. The forest, it seems had long since been cut down or possibly burned to make room for railway lines. There were sets of tracks side by side, far two many for Rinoa to count and each went to different places. Rinoa couldn't even guess where they all ended up. Timber _was_ after all, a transit hub for the entire continent of Galbadia.

"You know," Seifer said, in an attempt to start up a conversation "I Think Kane really likes you"

"Really?" Rinoa asked in response

"Well... yeah, I think so. So you saw 'The Wild One' did you? Luckily I was never subjected to him. But I've heard Kane tell that story about him once before and it seems that he gave you the censored version"

"_That_... was the censored version?"

"Yeah, it was... which is unusual because he generally hates censorship. I guess he was tryin' to protect you or something... I don't know. But I think he likes you."

"_No, I actually respect you more than that. I think more of you than the attraction those old men felt for you. You're more than a lifeless body lying there to be ravaged time and time again. You have a mind. You have a soul. Why not put 'em to good use."_

"_...or not. You can lie back and take the money of middle aged strangers if you want. Hey, it's your life. You can waste it any way you choose."_

These two statements immediately came to Rinoa's mind, these two memories, these quotes from Kane.

"Do you feel the same way?" Seifer asked her

"I... I'm not sure"

"Whatever you feel, you'd better get over it. He's a lot older than he looks and he's lived more than you think... he's been through a lot. If he leaves, don't go with him."

"Why? What would he do?"

"It's not so much what he'd do as it is how he'd feel."

"What do you mean?"

"He wouldn't see you as you are. He'd see you as..."

"He'd see me as...?"

"He'd see you as... his greatest fantasy. The reincarnation of... I'm sorry. We're not supposed to talk about it... but she looked just like you, only older. There's an old photograph of her, it's old and faded... ripped and torn. Kane keeps it on him at all times. He worships it as if he were in a cult."

"Maybe I could ask to see it."

"Don't. You'd only upset and anger him. His history is off limits. It's a big secret, a big mystery. He doesn't like us to talk about it. He won't even tell us her name. It's a secret he'll take to the grave, asking him anything about his past is that which he considers the ultimate insult."

Rinoa couldn't help but wonder to herself what kind of events led to Kane being able to kill the way he did.

"_If you harm one hair on her pretty little head, then you're as good as dead."_

"Why does he always speak in rhymes?" Rinoa wondered aloud

"Force of habit?" Seifer suggested. "I don't know... I don't know the full story. He's a great warrior though, the best I've seen. Maybe even better than me"

"Gee, you sure are modest" Rinoa joked

"Hey, I'm just being honest. I'm just such a great guy." Seifer said in a high pitched air of greatness.

"That's a matter of opinion. Shouldn't we be getting along?" Rinoa responded and they continued their journey towards the pub.

_Peaceful Era 17, June 4__th__, 0830_

"Oh what's wrong Leonheart? You still can't take a punch?" Seifer sneered down at Squall as he leaned back onto Raijin; Seifer's mindless goon-type friend.

Squall quickly regained balance and stood back up on his feet and glared up at Seifer.

"Such a nasty look on your face" Seifer smirked cruelly "We'll just have to find something to wipe it off now, won't we, but what punishment to use, how about detention? Perhaps I could have you disqualified from this years SeeD exam. Just think... all your hard work, for nothing."

Squall did not back down because of the antagonistic threat. "For what reason exactly... would you... do this?" Squall asked him slowly and quietly

"For getting in the way of my precious fist" Seifer said with a twisted grin. His favourite pastime since for as long as he could remember had been tormenting Squall and pummelling away each and every last ounce of his remaining self-esteem.

He could pick anyone he wanted to torture; no one dared fight back for fear of the consequences, he was head of the disciplinary committee after all; but his target had always been Squall. Squall never fought back, except in training duels but even when fighting back, squall was a pitifully easy target.

Using the side of his arm, Seifer knocked Squall back again but this time, there would be no Raijin behind him to stop him from falling backward. He did not have a chance to fall backwards however; Seifer punched at him once more with a right uppercut then held him hard against the wall. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry, Seifer... I should have been more careful." Squall said in the quiet monotone he always used when talking, especially when confronted with Seifer. The last thing he wanted to do was piss off the egotistic maniac.

"Who gave you permission to use my name? You should address me always as your superior... Go on."

Squall remained silent and expressionless. He was no longer glaring at Seifer. He was not making any form of eye contact whatsoever.

"Uhh Seifer, Let's go, I think maybe he's had enough ya know." Raijin blurted out loud. He wore a torn blue sleeveless vest and pants. Around his neck he wore a necklace of large round wooden beads. His brown eyes, black hair and dark complexion were dead giveaways of his origin. He was of Acauldian descent, a descendant of the Native tribe of Acauldia, now known as Balamb.

"Did I ask your opinion Raj? But maybe your right, the faggot can't even take a punch. Heh heh heh, just like that bitch Zell Dincht... speak of the devil..." Seifer said as he heard a familiar electronic humming noise.

Zell Dincht, a rather loud student of Balamb Garden who was best known for his endless supply of energy and blonde spiked up hairstyle appeared riding on a surfboard-shaped object which hovered six inches above the ground. He weaved in and out around Seifer, Squall and Raijin a few times before landing the hover board-type one-person vehicle.

"Yo Seifer, what's going on over here?" Zell asked with so much energy that it made Squall feel more tired than he already did.

"Mind your own business Dincht! This doesn't concern you. Now be a good boy and run along before you get involved in Leonheart's punishment." Seifer said sharply.

"Punishment, what for, did he really do anything wrong or are you just playing king prick again?"

"That's it" Seifer threatened "You just bought yourself a month long ticket to solitary detention!"

Just then, slow footsteps announced the arrival of a member of the Garden Faculty. "Seifer Almassy, Members of the disciplinary committee must set a good example to..." Squall was sure that the faculty's hidden eyes were transfixed on him "less honourable students. Why are you not in uniform? And you two," he asked, addressing Squall and Zell "should you not be in class? Study time is not free time. You should be revising."

"Yeah... we were just about to send these two off with a warning for truancy." Seifer lied.

"Very well... you..." the faculty growled, pointing at Squall "student #41269: Squall Leonheart, you have an exam today. Why are you lurking in the corridors at this time? Your overconfidence is astounding. If you make it through the SeeD exam, I shall personally demerit points from your final score, you are dismissed." He said just before he slowly walked away.

"I'll catch up with you losers later" Seifer said on his way back to the elevator.

"Yeah, catch you two later, ya know" Raijin said, following Seifer.

"Well, see ya Squall" Zell said as he got back on his hover board-type vehicle and sped off and out of sight. Squall distinctly heard an angry yell from Seifer; he was probably chasing Zell down the hall. Squall had no time to watch Seifer and Zell leave. He still had an exam to sit.

Squall walked into the classroom only to be greeted by an angry instructor. "0800 Leonheart, eight AM, the exam started at eight on the hour! Not eight o one, not eight thirty seven, Eight AM sharp! I've had trouble with you before and I'm not going to make any exceptions for you. I'm sorry Leonheart, you fail." The instructor lectured for what seemed like half an hour before telling Squall what he was expecting to hear.

Squall could feel the many eyes of his 'class-mates' sizzling through his skin like red-hot pokers. The relief he had felt had left him weak, left him open for disappointment. It was all Seifer's fault. To stand a chance at qualifying for SeeD candidateship, he would have to pass the majority of physical classes, as well as scoring one hundred percent on his remaining three theory classes. Squall's relief was dematerialising and was being rapidly replaced by bitterness and resentment which showed through his eyes and in his voice. "Whatever." He said in a hate-filled monotone and swiftly left the room.

That afternoon, Squall had been lining up in the cafeteria for what seemed like an age. In reality it had been about twenty five minutes and he was still nowhere near the front. "What, no more hotdogs, that's bullshit! When are you gonna order enough for everyone?!" an angry voice sounded from the front of the queue. In under five minutes, everyone in the line had wandered off, their stomach's growling like bears, leaving Squall next in line.

He approached the counter. "Didn't you hear? There's no more hotdogs left. They're all gone. There's a surprising number of chocobo burgers left though" A cafeteria worker said, handing him a putrid smelling sandwich containing grey meat and what appeared to be either cottage cheese or four month old mayonnaise. This was a Chocobo burger-hardly fit for human consumption but hey, they were cheap.

"Just... just water" Squall replied quietly, trying not to look at the sad excuse for a 'burger'.

"All righty" the cafeteria worker replied, handing him a litre bottle of water. "That'll be sixty five hundred gill."

"How much" Squall asked, nearly choking on the dramatic price increase, he had only three thousand gill on him.

"We had to raise the prices. Garden isn't producing as much income as usual, if you can't afford it... I guess I could sell you this burger on a discount..."

"Forget it." Squall said as he left the counter and sat down alone at an empty table at the back of the cafeteria. Most students in Garden knew to stay away. That is to say _most_. Zell Dincht was not classified as 'most'. Squall wasn't even aware that Zell was nearby, let alone right behind him. Squall had lost himself in his own thoughts, as he often did.

"Yo Squall, what's up?!"

Squall, upon hearing Zell's voice narrowed his eyes and let out a sigh. He turned his head to the side so that he could just see Zell out of the corner of his eye but not so much that he was forced to make eye contact. "What?" he asked impatiently.

"Whoa, Squall... you're startin' to sound like Fujin. You know that?" Zell joked.

"Whatever" Squall replied darkly.

"You need a new catchphrase Leonheart, I think that one's wearing thin" came the sound of a voice, higher in pitch than Squall's. "Don't you think so Fu?"

"Affirmative" sounded the hoarse reply.

Squall stood up and turned around to see Seifer and someone else. This person always seemed to tag along behind Seifer. She was sixteen, making her two years younger than Seifer. She had pale skin and her thin grey hair covered her one good eye. Her other eye was covered with a black eye patch.

Fujin; Squall thought to himself. Together with Raijin, she formed Seifer's tag along posse, the disciplinary committee. The least favoured of all the student administration committees. The disciplinary committee scouted Garden for violations of the academy's rules and regulations. They reported any breaches of conduct to the Faculty but they were also authorised to give out minor punishments such as detention.

Most students saw the disciplinary committee as traitors. They cared only about themselves and used any means necessary to make themselves look good. Students could look on the bright side though. Thankfully the disciplinary committee received the lowest funding out of all the committees. They still, despite this handicap managed to make sure everyone followed the Garden code. Who knows, maybe they would be tolerable if Seifer wasn't in charge.

"Hey, I've never seen you in uniform!" Zell exclaimed looking at Fujin, who scowled at him with her narrow angry eyes. Fujin was wearing the Garden female cadet's uniform which consisted of a dark blue skirt and blazer, with a yellow tie. Se had pinned to her blazer, a badge with the word 'Disciplinary Committee" inscribed on it.

Seifer too, was wearing the male counterpart of the same uniform, just as Squall and Zell were. The uniform consisted of the same blue blazer except without the tie. Dark blue trousers accompanied the blazer. Seifer too, wore the 'Disciplinary Committee' badge and his customary grey trench coat as if it were a sign of authority over the savage dogs of Balamb Garden.

"Hey, and Seifer's wearing it too. I don't think that coat is part of the uniform though..." Zell announced as if he were on the six o'clock news.

"Shut your mouth 'boy scout' before I throw you out for disturbing the peace" Seifer retorted coldly to Zell's audible observations. "So Leonheart, I saw you up at the counter" he said to Squall "it must be so embarrassing, not being able to afford a bottle of water"

"What, You couldn't afford water?!" Zell blurted out at full volume, attracting the attention of everyone in the cafeteria"

_This is why I hate this room_, Squall thought to himself. Why was it that the only people who seemed to come near him were Zell and Seifer? He'd rather be isolated for the rest of his life than spend it with these two.

When Squall looked back, he realised that Seifer had turned and left while he had been thinking to himself. He looked up and into the eye of Fujin. Their eyes connected for a short while before Squall looked away. He quickly glanced back and thought he saw the shadow of a smirk before Fujin turned around and began to follow Seifer towards the exit.

Squall sat there leaning over, resting his elbows on his legs for quite a while, waiting for Zell to leave. When he realised he would have no such luck, he didn't even turn his head to look at Zell as he let out another of his monotones. "What?" he asked.

"What did Seifer mean when he said for you to be careful?"

Squall didn't answer strait away. Eventually he turned his head so he could just see Zell and asked "...when?"

"Geez Squall, weren't you even listening?"

Squall turned his head back and looked down at the floor.

"Squall, you gotta stop letting Seifer push you around like that. If you don't, he's just gonna get worse and worse. I know what he can be like, I've been there remember. You stuck up for me and I wanna return the favour. It's time I stuck by you."

Squall had yet another disappointment to deal with. It sounded like Zell was going to stick to him as if hot glued to his shadow. Why couldn't Zell just learn to leave him alone? Why put himself in Seifer's line of fire? Why did people inconvenience themselves with burdens that did not belong to them?

"Why" he asked Zell, "do yourself a favour and stay away. Keep out of Seifer's way... and stay away from me. No offence, but... follow me and Seifer will... just... please... just... just leave me alone."

"Squall..." Zell began but Squall was already standing up to leave. "This thing about Seifer, you know it's not gonna get any better unless you make it right?"

"Whatever" sounded the monotone of Squall's reply.

"Hey, Squall! If you need a drink of water, there's always the fountain!" Zell said breaking what had been a moment of seriousness between the two.

The cafeteria had an out of order vending machine next to the counter. On the other side of the entrance was the drinking fountain that Zell had recommended. Great idea, the discoloured metallic object spit up water, or rather liquid that _resembled_ water. It was thick, foul smelling, rust coloured and literally tasted like actual cat's piss. No one had ever been seriously harmed by drinking the water from this fountain though, then again; no one had ever been stupid enough to drink from it.

There was also the large fountain surrounding the central support pillar that contained the main elevator shaft; however this fountain contained mostly saltwater so it too, was not really suitable for drinking.

Squall had a thought. He had been trying to work out his chances of being accepted for SeeD candidateship. Grades for Physical classes were scored on ten different pass or fail assessments. If he passed all forty and scored a minimum of seventy five percent on the remaining exams and assignments of his three theory classes, he would have an average of score of just over seventy eight percent. Assuming his calculations were correct and he achieved these grades, he might just stand a chance of being accepted. He had only one exam left. The other theory classes had assignments, which were easy enough.

This for Squall was being very optimistic but maybe, just maybe he had a window of opportunity. Perhaps with a little study and a lot of luck, he might just pass. With that thought in mind, he headed to the northern path on the ground floor of Balamb Garden, the entrance to the dormitories.

_Peaceful__ Era 16, July 21, 1200_

Since Seifer had sped ahead back to the Forest Owls' base leaving Rinoa at the shopping centre, she walked alone at her own pace back to the train. Her long hair blown about in the wind along with her tattered rags drew the judging stares of the townspeople. She'd have bought something to wear at the clothing shop, had she any money.

Being completely gill-less was not a feeling that Rinoa was accustomed too. Neither was it a feeling she particularly enjoyed. As she approached the train, she recognised Seifer and Kane leaning against it. Both were smoking cigarettes.

"...I'm telling you, he's a damn fag" She overheard Seifer saying

"Come on Seifer... get to know him, he's not so bad" Kane responded. "He can fight with a gunblade can't he? You said so yourself." He nodded in Rinoa's direction when he saw her approaching. "So I see you didn't bother to buy her any clothes, what the fuck Seifer?" he said casually dropping a curse into the sentence. "Come on then, get in the train. I've got something old you can wear.

In the train, Rinoa found a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. Both were plain and black and both were one size too small and just a little too tight. She exited the train to find Seifer and Kane still outside continuing their conversation.

"Not bad...not bad at all" Kane commented.

"It's better than those shit rags you were in before, anyway" Seifer added, flicking away his cigarette which landed on the grass, still producing smoke.

"So... you're not gonna put that out then? Kane stated, putting out his cigarette by smothering it with his own hand. "You see Rinoa, when you're with me you get taken care of. I don't let you walk around town looking like a rape victim."

He stood up and walked past her. "Come for a walk" he said so she could just hear.

"Rinoa" Seifer said to her when Kane was out of earshot. "Remember what I told you about him. Don't forget my warning. Be careful around him, okay."

"_Whatever you feel, you'd better get over it. He's a lot older than he looks and he's lived more than you think... he's been through a lot. If he leaves, don't go with him."_

"_Why? What would he do?"_

"_It's not so much what he'd do as it is how he'd feel."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_He wouldn't see you as you are. He'd see you as..."_

Rinoa's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of "You coming or what!" She hurried along behind Kane like an obedient pet following its master... no, more like a mindless lamb following a farmer to the slaughter house. He was her master and she was his lap dog.

Since the Forest Owls' base had moved to a new hiding place closer to the town, it was only a ten minute walk to the Timber town square.

"You really don't like those clothes do you?" This question made Rinoa stop instantly. She couldn't sense any emotion in Kane's voice, no sarcasm or anger.

"No... It's not that. "

"Don't you patronise me" he growled, inspiring fear in the deepest south-most regions of Rinoa's soul. "Don't lie to me and don't you _ever_ sugar-coat shit, it aint gonna sell. If you hate then spit on the world. Don't discriminate and keep it shut up. Don't lock it up inside, you can't live with that much hatred flowing through your veins...so much emotion...with no release" he looked at her. "Sorry, I kind of drifted off there...but the point is; if you want different clothes, the shop's right here." The two walked through the door in front of them and into the shop.

As Rinoa headed toward the clothing racks at the back of the room, Kane approached the counter. "Hey Dick" he greeted the salesman.

"Well well, I've not seen you in a while Kane" the salesman answered "What're you doing around here? I thought you skipped town after that incident at the church."

"I don't feel like talking about that particular incident" Kane replied.

"Yeah...right. So who's that then?"

"What d'you mean, who's that?"

"The girl I saw you come in with. Where'd you pick this one up? ...and more importantly... does she have any money, coz I know you blew all yours on that damn resistance movement."

"Well...actually" Kane began "I was hoping you could give me... store credit."

"You're joking right? I don't sell anything to anyone on credit anymore. You pay cash or you get out."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Dick... I truly am."

The Salesman reached down behind the counter and pulled out a shotgun. It seemed to be of an extremely old design. "I purchased this gun long ago..." he explained "but I never once thought I'd be using it on you."

"Come on Dick... We both know you aint gonna shoot that thing in my direction."

"Are you sure you want to take that risk? Do you really want to risk your life over a few garments?""

"Are you sure you wanna risk _your_ life over a few garments?" Kane asked. "This is an overreaction. I'm not robbing you. I just can't pay yet, that's all. Your gun is an overreaction... and so is mine." Kane pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the Salesman's head.

"You're carrying firearms now Kane? That's not your style. I thought you were a hand-to-hand kind of guy."

"Who says I aint?" Kane backed away a few steps and called out "Rinoa! Rinoa! Get out here. We're leaving!" then, to the salesman he added "and you're gonna let us, got it?"

Rinoa walked out of the changing room wearing the clothes she had entered with. She approached Kane and looked at the salesman whose shotgun was still pointed at the pistol carrying long haired resistance fighter.

"Rinoa, I'd like you to meet my old friend Dick."

"Friend?" the salesman spat, "we're business associates and nothing more." He quickly glanced at Rinoa and then back to Kane. He did this quite a few times. "Well Kane... maybe you _can_ pay."

"Don't even think about it! I just got her, and there's no way I'm giving her to you."

"Why do we have to pay you? We might not even buy anything!" Rinoa said at full volume."

"Maybe not today Kane... But what about all the Gil you owe me? That debt isn't gonna just go away you know! The Girl! What's her name? Tell me, now!"

"Rinoa... her name's... Rinoa. And she's staying with me. There's no way I'm letting you get your hands on her. For Hyne's sake she's a goddamn human being, not an investment!"

"Well, that's up to her now, isn't it? So tell me Rinoa... is it?" he asked without waiting for a reply. "You could attract me a lot of young customers. You'll easily pay off Kane's debt and more. Think about it Rinoa... How would you like to be a model? Do this for me and I'll write off Kane's debt. I'll even pay you. It's a good salary too. Ten thousand gill for every day you work payable on the first of every month. I hear that garden charges the same amount each day for a rookie SeeD"

"...and All I have to do is wear the clothes you tell me to? What's the catch?" Rinoa asked, suspicious that any businessman would offer a complete stranger a well paying job like this just like that.

"You must model the garments of your choice. You can choose from any of the clothing in this store."

"That's it? I just have to pick the clothes I want, walk around and get paid?"

"It's not quite as simple as all that... you must walk around town as well as in here wearing the clothes from my shop as you stated... but also, you must make appearances. Wherever I tell you to go, you must be seen. Lastly, you must also be seen regularly in this shop as well as entering and leaving. Not only will you be a teenage model... you will also be a junior sales assistant. Now tell me... how does that grab you?"

"Well..." Rinoa began but was interrupted.

"Don't do it Rinoa" Kane warned. "Sure, it may sound good now but take my advice and don't you ever sign a contract with this greedy bastard. You might think you're getting a good deal but the reality is different. Soon enough he'll begin to change the wording of the contract, then your stuck doing whatever the hell it is he wants you to do."

"Rinoa let me convince you..." the salesman began "either you work for me... or I blow a big fucking hole in Kane's head!" he cursed, something he usually didn't do.

"Don't worry about me Rinoa; I've got far better reflexes than him... I can take him out before he even pulls the trigger... assuming that thing's even loaded" Kane said in an effort to both taunt the salesman and reassure Rinoa.

"Of course it's loaded!" the Salesman responded, pulling the trigger and firing a warning shot – not a particularly wise thing to do.

Without thinking, Rinoa sped forward and took something from her pocket – a plastic card. She threw it at the salesman and it landed on the floor at his feet.

The salesman unfortunately, had seen this move as somewhat of a threat and pointed his shotgun at Rinoa and pumped a shell into the barrel. Before he had the opportunity to fire however, Kane had fired a shot into the salesman's hand. This had caused him to cry out in pain. He was still managing to keep the heavy firearm steady... but only just.

He turned the shotgun back to Kane. "Rinoa..." he said out loud, still looking at Kane "What did you throw at me?"

"It was a credit card. It'll cover the debt so now we can leave, right?"

"Sorry Rinoa, that won't work. This shop doesn't accept credit" Kane told her.

"What, no credit? Why not?" Rinoa asked with surprise.

"Because" the salesmen said "when you offer credit... bastards like that" he nodded in Kane's direction, "take advantage and never pay you back!"

"Too bad Rinoa" Kane told her "looks like this is gonna end in bloodshed after all."

"No..." she said aloud.

"Wait a minute... I feel like I can trust you" the salesman said to Rinoa. "Can you really pay off Kane's debt, or are you financially... troubled like our friend here?"

"The credit card will work fine" she explained seriously.

"Well then Kane... it looks like she's solved all your troubles for you. Hyne knows why... after everything you've done. I guess you're free to go... as long as you don't come back. I never want to see your face around here again. As far as I know, you died that night the church burned down... the way it should have happened. I want to keep it that way. Here, you might as well take him with you." He dragged a body out from behind the counter... the body of the boy Rinoa had seen digging. The boy she and Kane had freed from his dominating ape-like family. "Don't worry... he'll soon wake up."

Kane put away his gun and picked up the boy as he and Rinoa turned to leave.

"Rinoa..." The salesman called out "You're free to return at any time, of course. Just as long as you don't bring _him_ back with you." he said, obviously referring to Kane. "Remember, we still have to discuss that offer I made you."

Outside the shop, Rinoa and Kane began walking in the direction they were going in before entering the clothing shop. "Rinoa..." Kane began to say as Rinoa turned to face him, she saw that he had stopped walking. "I'm sorry, and... thanks. That went... that went almost exactly as planned."

"You planned that?!" Rinoa asked without thinking."

"Not exactly, but we reached the desired result. I should have told you, but then we wouldn't have had your true reaction to work with. We got the kid back at least. I want him growing up away from Timber. I think that would be best for him. Walk with me to east academy and I'll show you what I mean."

After a somewhat uneventful journey, Kane led Rinoa to a fork in the road. Just past this intersection was a train station. They continued to walk past the station towards a large forest. Large trees stood strong against the wind on the left and right. In between them, a path existed where trees had either been cut down or not been planted in the first place. This placement of trees formed a kind of arch, like a secret forest path in a mythological tale.

Rinoa stood before this pathway and looking ahead, she saw a large rusting sign. She could only just make out the faded letters on the sign that spelled out 'EAST ACADAMY AHEAD'

"It's through here" Kane explained, walking ahead of her, ducking under the sign and waiting for her to catch up.

She walked behind him and he told her to "just call out if you fall behind, or you could walk in front and I'll make sure we both go the same way. This forest has many confusing splits in the road and it's easy to get lost. I'll tell you if you're going the wrong way. Actually, I think that's a good idea." Rinoa nodded in agreement and sped up so she was in front of Kane but not to far ahead, just enough so they were not quite walking side by side.

It was indeed a confusing labyrinth with many dead ends and the darkness of the forest floor only existed to make the journey seem that much more ominous. Following Kane's direction however, made the trip seem quick and easy. The path they took was simply strait ahead for most of the journey although they travelled north-west after some time, then after some time, they headed east again.

Kane seemed to know the way so Rinoa had nothing to worry about except for the occasional thrustaevis attack, although Kane was able to shoot all of these down before they were able to touch her. Kane was even able to give her some information on the thrustaevises thanks to a scan spell he had been able to cast through an ability he called Para-magic which he had learned somewhere. Rinoa had no idea where he had picked it up however but she was about to because they had almost arrived at their destination.

When the two travellers stepped out of the forest and the high tree branches fell behind them, the bright light burning from the seemingly brutal sun hurt Rinoa's eyes and she had to cover them with her hands.

When her eyes adjusted, Rinoa found herself enclosed in the centre of a bowl of hills. Behind her was the forest from which she had left. A short walk would lead her to a train station. In the centre of this bowl stood a large circular structure, it was perfectly round and almost as tall as it was large in diameter.

"This is it, Rinoa" she heard Kane explain. "Welcome... to East Academy, also known as Galbadia Garden."

The inside of Galbadia Garden was immeasurably vast. Rinoa and Kane walked forward until they reached a large statue. This statue took up the majority of the room in this grand entrance.

A pearl coloured path led them around the titanic monument to the academy's lobby. In front of Rinoa, were several gates used for entry and exit to the academy. To the left of these gates there was a keypad and monitor. The monitor had two messages on it. The first one read "Students please scan ID Card for entry" and the second message read "welcome guest, please input your name via the below keyboard" Kane walked ahead of Rinoa and typed his name using the keypad.

When Kane had finished typing his name, the monitor glowed cerulean and the word 'processing' appeared on the screen. After a few minutes of waiting, his patience was rewarded. The screen returned to normal and large white letters appeared on the screen one by one in a typewriter fashion to spell out the message "Hello Kane, your request has been accepted. Please walk strait north and up the stairs to the 2F hallway. From the top of the stairway, please walk west to the conference room and wait for Garden Master Martine. Welcome and please enjoy your stay at Galbadia Garden" The monitor showed this message before flickering, going blank and finally resetting to its original message.

When the monitor reset, the red lights on half of the gates had turned green, indicating that the 'in' gates were unlocked. Also, Rinoa realised that the boy Kane had been carrying had at some point awakened. She quickly notified Kane, who then put the child down.

The boy, who was obviously confused out of his mind, looked around in all directions. Rinoa felt sorry for him once more and wondered what it was like to be completely unaware of a situation, to have no memory up to a certain point. It was a feeling she could never imagine.

"Take care of the kid and follow me" Kane said to her. "I need to talk to the Master."

"Who's the master?" she asked.

"Martine" he responded. "I can't say I know him personally... I learned the basics of fighting here but I never heard of him being either student or faculty... then again, when I studied here, it was a long time ago." He seemed to stop walking and his voice changed to a low guttural demonic growl. "A lot hath changed. Indeed my dear... naught stays the same... but as long as the acid continues to rain, thou shalt forevermore feel thy pain.

"What was that?" Rinoa asked.

Kane had a smile on his face. "You've loosened up quite a bit. Remember when we first met?" he asked. "You were a big jittery bitch then, weren't you... sure, you may have made the odd smart remark but now... you're so much more relaxed. You're so much like... never mind."

"So much like what, who am I like?"

"Don't worry. We have to get to the conference room."

"No, you're always doing that. No more changing the subject and no more blowing me off. Whenever I ask you a question you always say something like 'we have to go' you never give a strait answer!"

"I guess I should be a teacher then... hurry up. We have to go." When he saw Rinoa's eyes staring at him as if proving a point, he said "come on" which she reluctantly did.

Kane walked toward the conference room followed closely by Rinoa and the young boy. When they reached the designated room, they found it empty. "Where is he then?" Rinoa asked.

"He obviously aint here yet" Kane replied impatiently.

"Which means we have some time, now we can continue our conversation from before" Rinoa said.

"I'll pass" is all Kane was willing to say.

"What, What do you mean!? You can't just do that!"

"Why not, I don't wanna talk about that. Not to anyone. _Not_ _anyone_... not even you."

Before Rinoa had a chance to say anything more, the door opened and in walked an important looking Galbadian man. "Greetings," the man said "I am Galbadia Garden Master Mar...tine" the man paused as soon as his eyes met Kane.

"Martine..." Kane said "We've never met but I wanted to ask a favour of you"

"A favour... is it? Well, I'm listening."

"Well, you probably don't know, but I myself was a student here once."

"A student, were you really? It is funny then that I have never pictured you as a student. Did you really come here?"

"You were not here then, I left before you arrived."

"Perhaps some more research is in order, for I have been Master of this Garden since the military had it established, twelve years ago."

"I was here before that. Before the military got involved, before you were stationed here."

"Ah, I see. This place was called East Academy then."

"That is correct."

"So, I've been talking to a graduate of the old East Academy. You must know a few of the old forgotten fighting disciplines. What year did you graduate?"

"Well, I never actually graduated."

"Oh, so you're a dropout. What is it then that you want from me? Why do you return to this place of Training? What did you come to ask?"

"This boy, I want of him... I want you to at least consider him. If you accept him and Make him a student of this Garden, you will have my deepest gratitude."

"And what good is that?" Martine asked. "While this Garden is partly financed by the Galbadian Government, I still have to negotiate with the main Garden, Balamb Garden."

"Balamb Garden" Kane commented "That is where Seifer is from."

"Seifer Almassy, I have heard talk of him from Balamb Garden's Master and it is the Master of that Garden whom I must talk with about the consideration of new students."

"Alright, thanks for your time" Kane said, realising he was chasing after a lost cause.

"Wait, the boy... he is your son?"

"No, what gave you that impression?"

"The two of you... came in with him. I just assumed you were his parents."

"Us, you thought we were..." Rinoa began but was interrupted by Kane repeating his question.

"What gave you that impression?"

"Well, just a guess" Martine answered. Tell me, what is this boy's name?"

"Uh... Rinoa, what is his name?"

Rinoa looked at the boy and her mind went blank when she tried to remember his name.

"Chapin... is my name." the boy said.

"So you two really aren't the parents...?" Martine asked.

"...no, we're not. The boy is a... he's an orphan" Kane answered.

"I... see. Just one more question. Are you... who I think you are?"

"That depends on who you think I am, now doesn't it" Kane replied with a hint of sarcasm evident in his voice.

Martine walked across the room and picked a square plastic object up off the table and handed it to Rinoa.

Rinoa looked at it and was shocked by what she saw. The object appeared to be the plastic case of a CD. The thing that really shocked her was the black-and-white picture on the front. In a dark background, floating in midair in front of the moon was Kane. He was shirtless, wearing a tight fitting pair of black jeans. He had black eye-makeup and what appeared to be a large black octagram on his chest. He also had black angel-wings.

"So, is it you? Are you Diablo?" Martine asked.

"El Diablo was... my stage name, as well as the name of my band."

"What, You had a professional band!? Why didn't you tell me anything about this?" Rinoa asked in disbelief.

"That was our final ever album." Kane said, ignoring Rinoa's question.

Rinoa looked back to the album cover and read the album title, which read 'El Diablo' as the band name and near the bottom, in large white letters was printed the album title 'Fallen Angel' she looked over at Kane and saw he was staring at the album cover, studying it with sad eyes. She couldn't help but wonder why.

"So it _is_ you" Martine stated. "This girl you are with... surely it cannot be..."

"I know who you think it is" Kane interrupted "but you are mistaken. Even if she had survived that night at the church... it would be impossible"

"Who?" Rinoa wondered aloud.

"She is too young" Kane added.

"Yes... the math does not add up." Martine agreed. "...So, that thing with the church, did it really happen? I had always assumed it was a story."

"It was no story. It was true, they all died... although I had survived."

"And you feel this is a mistake? Are you saying you should be dead right now?"

Kane bowed his head. His barely audible mutter sent cold shivers down Rinoa's spine. It was a groaned sound that consisted entirely of bass and contained no treble whatsoever.

"Yes"

"_I never want to see your face around here again. As far as I know, you died that night the church burned down... the way it should have happened. I want to keep it that way."_

"Why" Rinoa asked, Kane's head remained hung as if in shame.

"...why?" he asked, unsure of Rinoa's question.

"Everyone's always telling you that you shouldn't be alive... why? You can't seriously believe that! Why do you let them talk to you that way?"

"Why?" Kane asked again, this time he sounded like he was just managing to hang on to his mental stability. "You wanna know why" he asked, a mask of insanity upon his face, distorting it into a terrifyingly menacing grin. "You sure, Do you really wanna fucking know?" he asked, getting uncomfortably close to Rinoa's face. His hand found its way tightly around her throat.

"Stop... what are... you...?"

"They're fucking right!" he screamed at her face. "I shouldn't be standing here, I deserve no life. I should be fucking dead! I shouldn't be alive... thine existence... denied..." his fingers loosened around Rinoa and his eyes softened, the hatred disappeared to be replaced by remorse.

Rinoa couldn't speak, and neither, it seemed could Kane. After a few attempted apologies, he turned around. "Fuck!" he cursed loudly and punched the wall so hard that when he moved his hand away from the wall, it left an imprint where his fist had been.

"My reservoir has over flown, I'm sorry. I've been through so much with no real release, no escape from my emotions. No escape from the demon within me. El Diablo, I thought had retired... but he had returned to the surface, if for only a short while.

"So it really is you then, so I really have been in a room with the man whose voice led an entire generation of depressed teenagers closer to suicide..."

Rinoa looked at Kane, "Suicide?"

"Yeah..." Kane said with a lack of volume evident in his voice. "That was a statistic; they tried to ban our music and even raided our last show... that was the forbidden event at the church."

He continued. "It all began when I took over lead vocals but the government got involved after we made the switch in our genre classification, we changed from epic death/thrash to epic death/doom. When I took over, some fat cat politician tried to use his brain for once and somehow came up with the theory that my music was linked to the increase in teen suicide... I don't know. That album you're holding was an experiment" he said motioning to the object in Rinoa's hand. "It contained major Goth elements, our music became more popular and_ that_ was our downfall… because I let _her_ join the band."

"You mean 'The Sheik' don't you?" Martine asked.

Kane nodded, "...wait, how do you know all about this? This music was made illegal by Galbadian government and you... you just don't seem the type to..." he trailed off, leaving his sentence incomplete.

"I'm not" Martine assured him. "I never listened to your music... but a small group of students still do. That album was confiscated by one of the instructors. It's just collecting dust in here; you might as well take it with you.

Kane thanked Martine and turned to leave, Rinoa following his example.

"Oh, and don't worry about the boy. I'll give him a try. We'll start him in a new entrant class. When he proves to us his particular talents, be they combat or intellectual based, we will offer him the options to choose from a list of appropriate classes."

Kane thanked the Master of Galbadia Garden and exited with Rinoa following some distance behind, leaving the boy with Martine.

As they were making the slow journey to the exit, the short walk was made to seem unnaturally long due to the many glances received to which Rinoa had been gleefully ignorant on the way in. "...Kane?" she asked, unsure of how he would respond to her. He had remained silent since they left the conference room.

"Yeah, what is it?" he questioned in response.

"...ah, forget it" she said.

"No, tell me. If it's about what happened before in that room, I'm sorry alright! I... What the fuck is everyone's problem?!" he said looking around to meet many pairs of eyes.

"I-I noticed it too. Why do they all stare? What is it?"

"Many eyes" Kane said, possibly to Rinoa or possibly to himself, she couldn't tell. "One thousand stares... one thousand glares. They see before them an outcast, about me; no one cares, not one. This tag I wear... it separates me so. I try in vain to earn their acceptance but that will never happen. Fuck the world, you dismiss my success like the life of a leper" Kane's eyes appeared glazed and his expression, blank.

"Diablo... Kane?"

Kane turned around and looked down to see a Galbadia Garden student. He appeared to be nineteen years of age. "Who are you; you called me both as Diablo and as Kane."

"It is you, isn't it? I _knew_ it, a real public appearance!"

"Don't get too excited, I wouldn't want you to mess in that flash uniform you're wearing."

"What? ...what do you mean?"

"Don't obsess over me, you no nothing about me. I owe you nothing, even if you once upon a time called yourself a fan."

"So you're not reforming your old band then?" the teen asked disappointedly.

"Well, since all the other members are dead, that'll be a little hard now wont it." Kane answered him sarcastically.

"Forget it!" a second teenager answered. He appeared to be the same age as the first one. "This has-been is a completely different person now. He aint El Diablo... he's nothing like El Diablo. He's sober, just look at him."

"Hey!" Kane snapped in retort. "It's not the drug that makes the music. I may have completely fucked my mind over and over again in the past but at least I know that much. Every song I wrote was mine. I made it. I owned it and no one will ever play it better. It's fucking mine."

"Prove it" the second student answered back. "Teach me the solo at the end of "smite thy brother."

"I'm sorry kid, I can't do that. I don't play anymore. I broke one unbreakable vow already. This one I must keep. I have no choice, it is the least I can do... although it makes up for nothing. It hardly justifies my life"

"What, that's just an excuse. If I'm wrong, give me an autograph."

"I don't give autographs" Kane answered, "Any real fan would know that. Why should I waste my time signing something just so you can make money selling it to some memorabilia geek?"

"Fuck you then!" the second student said as he walked away."

"Oh, great comeback" Kane sneered.

"Well, Thanks anyway" the first student answered.

"Yet another disappointment for me to bare, a weight upon my back. Pulling me down... to drown in the dust, the waste of an age... Yet another disappointment, I simply cannot bare." Kane said as if quoting an ancient text.

"Fear not beloved as I take thee to the grave." the student said in response, speaking without emotion as if he were recalling the phrase from his memory, like a poem he had been forced to memorize by his English teacher, a teacher with no life, no hopes, no dreams. A Teacher so obsessed by their own subject they think the world revolves around it.

Kane, for some reason unknown to Rinoa seemed to be impressed. He took the front cover out of the plastic CD case, signed it and quickly replaced it. "I usually don't do this" he said as he handed it to the student, who thanked him and walked off in the same direction the other student walked in.

Kane looked at the large twenty four hour digital clock on the wall. He then turned to Rinoa and said "We'd better go."

"Why'd you do it?" she asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"You said you don't sign autographs and then you went back on your word. You countered yourself by doing just that what you swore you'd never do."

"What that kid said to me... you may not understand but it was a quote. A quote from a song of mine, not just any song... that was a stage of my career where the only thing more wasted than my head, were my vocal cords. Anyone who can not only understand those lyrics but also recall and recite, they deserve at the very least my respect. Come, let us leave."

"But why does everyone stare at you?"

"Can we talk about that later? I want to visit my place. I need to see my partner and judging by the time, I wont be able to take you back to the forest owl's base... do you wanna come with me or make your way back to Timber?

Rinoa was unsure and it showed in her face. She didn't need to say anything.

"Do you want to come with me? It's not really that far and you can rest when we get there."

"Alright" Rinoa said, nodding in agreement. Thankful for Kane giving an answer to the question she was not comfortable with.

Kane's place was located in a secluded area past a large forest to the west of East Academy Station. Rinoa's first impression of it was not a very good one. The run down wooden house was a dull grey colour and had moss growing on the south wall.

"This is it" Kane said.

"This?" Rinoa asked critically "This is it?"

"Hey, don't condemn by meager appearances. It may not look like much but looks can be deceiving. It's good enough for me and my partner anyway."

"You're partner?"

"My partner in work... partner in crime... so to speak."

"Your partner in life, is it?"

"...no, hell no, not the way you think at least."

"Why not?"

"You'll see"

"Is it a man... or a woman?"

"You'll see" Kane repeated

"Tell me!" Rinoa whined

"It's a... It's a she"

"Really, what's she like?" Rinoa asked

"You'll see" Kane said for the third time, a little annoyed at Rinoa's persistence.

Sensing this, Rinoa couldn't help but smile. When Kane returned the grin, she couldn't help but laugh.

As she continued to laugh, Kane picked up a stone off the dead dry landscape of the surrounding ground and threw it hard at the door of the house. The sound seemed to echo for a while only to die down and be replaced by a dog's bark.

"You have a dog?" she asked

Kane nodded in answer, not bothering to mention the stupidity of the obvious question.

Rinoa followed Kane into the building and was quite surprised by its décor. The interior of the building consisted of a single four walled room, three of which were painted black. The fourth wall was white, contrasting the others and featured a large close-up image of the disembodied head of a goat impaled on a lance.

This building though only containing one square room, was quite large and dark, which was not really so surprising considering the room had no windows whatsoever, meaning the only natural light invading the dark despair inducing room was the light standing behind them in the doorway, unable to guide them to the centre and when the solid opaque door was to shut, all light would be blocked and barred entry.

Kane looked over at Rinoa to find her eyes transfixed upon the bestial image. "So I see you like that then?" he said, sounding like a tour guide.

"What-what is this?" she asked in return, the disbelief evident in her voice.

Kane couldn't help but smile at the girl's ignorance. "A ritualistic sacrifice" he explained "is an ancient tradition. The ancient Centra, the first known human civilization would offer unto the gods the blood and body of a living creature to show their loyalty and to ask the deities above for protection from plagues and demons and the like. Any living creature could be sacrificed but sheep and goats were the most common... and this may be obvious to you but of course human sacrifices were extremely rare. This image is a tribute to that ancient tradition."

"Who-who are the-the Centra?"

"Goddamn it, when did you drop out of school and how can you not know anything about the ancient Centra?"

Rinoa broke eye contact.

"Before modern civilization as we know it..." Kane said, beginning what should have been taught in a high school history lesson. "When Hyne created the human race..."

"Do you actually believe in creationism?" Rinoa interrupted.

"Creationism... is such a Christian word. All those worthless religions... Christianity, Catholics, Jewish... they are all the same. They all worship the same unnamed god. They are all nothing more than chocobo shit, regurgitated through the mouth of a stuck up preacher who thinks he's better than the world because he decided to take a leap of blind faith... until he dies and realizes there was no fickle deity to catch him, to stop him falling through one of the earth's spiraling crevices into the deep dark abyss below."

"How is worshipping Hyne any different?" she protested.

"Hyne is not an insecure wretch seeking undeserving praise and worship. He need's no worship and thus receives none. Hyne was and forever will be a fallen god, banished from the heavens after the great mythical war between his father; Hayne and Ramah; the lord of the thunder. Hyne is not a religion, it is not a faith. He does not rely on the gullible to believe in him despite lack of evidence. His existence has been proven throughout history."

"Really," Rinoa asked disbelievingly "what proof? I've never heard anything that can make me believe there are gods above watching me."

"Hynes existence, never been proven? What about Adel? The Sorceress wars, what about the witch hunt era?! Upon his defeat, Hyne relinquished a sector of his godly magicks unto us. This power became the Sorceress."

"I guess... if you put it that way" Rinoa reluctantly agreed, if there was one thing she hated it was being beaten in an argument.

"When Hyne created us who pollute the world with our population, we were diverse and wide spread over the continent we now call Centra. We had arranged ourselves into tribes. The tribe names were 'Dollet' 'Ballambese' 'Acauldian' 'Shumi' ...these were the four main tribes. The 'Dollet' were brave and fierce warriors, whereas the 'Ballambese' were weak, slow, great tacticians but lacked the desire to fight that the 'Dollet' possessed. While the 'Dollet' were busy pillaging, the 'Ballambese' were putting their minds together to discover new technologies. As for the other two, the 'Acauldian' were also skilled warriors and easily identified by their dark complexion. The 'Shumi' were also easily identified. Not much is known about that tribe besides the fact that they were one with the environment."

"How do you know all this?" Rinoa asked.

"I want to know why you don't know about any of this." Kane responded. "I learned all this at East Acadamy in history class, but I've always had an interest in mythology."

"So there were four tribes?"

"Those were the four biggest tribes. Of course there were many smaller tribes throughout the land, but these held little importance to historical events."

"I see." She said.

"One man, who is in my opinion history's greatest tactician and leader, was at one point exiled from the 'Ballambese' tribe for his bizarre theories and ideologies. It was then that he began to build up his own empire, the one empire with a chance for global conquest... this man, do you know who I mean?"

"No" Rinoa answered while shaking her head.

"Alexander," he said "Alexander Centra, head of the ancient Centra Empire."

"That's how Centra got its name."

Kane nodded. "Anyway, long story short, Centra's great military tactics allowed him to build up his mighty empire. Soon all other tribes were forced to join him or be crushed."

"And that's it, that's Centra's history?"

"Bits of it, there's more to tell but I really don't feel like telling every detail. Basically Centra ruled over that southern mass of land until the reawakening of Hyne. This started the Great Hyne War. After the war, Centra experienced decades of peace interrupted by attacks from the fallen angel El Diablo, in a period known as Olde Centra. In this period, the periodic sacrificial rituals began. Their purpose, to ward off and minimize the effects El Diablo had on their civilization. This deadly menace aside, there was relative peace until the fall of Centra. After the empire fell, its citizens resorted back to their old tribal names and separated to different parts of the world; Dollet to the west, Ballambese and Acauldian to the east and north and Shumi further up near the North Pole, the coldest place on the entire planet."

He looked at Rinoa who was leaning against the wall. "Wait here" he instructed her. He walked across to the other side of the room and leaned under a square table and opened a door to a hidden room. Rinoa heard the chinking sound of a chain and the unclipping of a metal fastening hook.

Kane crawled backwards out from behind the table, followed by a dog. The dog was an average size, not to big nor was it small. Its fur colouring was a pleasant blend of white and brown.

"Rinoa, this is my partner. Meet Angelo"

"This is your pet?" Rinoa asked excitedly.

"No, this is my partner. A pet is a slave whom you humiliate, a living form of entertainment forced to jump through flaming hoops for food. A pet is nothing more than a bitch, enslaved to you through bondage. Although she may be of the species known as dog, I don't see her as a pet, more as a friend."

"Uh... right." She said, not quite sure what the big deal was, all she did was call the guy's dog by the tag 'pet', she was a pet after all, she was just a dog, it's not like she was human.

Rinoa walked up to the four legged creature and it looked up at her. The dog began to smell her.

"Put out your hand" Kane instructed.

She did so and allowed the dog to smell it. Rinoa heard a few short sniffing sounds and then felt the animal's warm wet tongue against the perfect and pure milk-white smoothness, the skin of her hand.

"Well, looks like she likes you" Kane said, thoroughly amused.

Rinoa crouched down and began petting the dog's fur, ruffling it all over. The dog in turn licked Rinoa's face affectionately. She stood up and wiped her face with her arm. "Is that unusual? Does she always like everyone?"

"Generally, but she's taken a liking to you... more than usual, I'm not sure why but there's something about you. I need to head out for a while. I'll be back before morning. Are you gonna be alright here?"

Rinoa took a long pause before saying it would be alright.

"Good. Under the dust in the centre of the floor is a mat, under it you can open a trap door to the basement. There's a bathroom down there. We've got plumbing and electricity in here. Look after Angelo and I'll see you when you wake tomorrow."

Kane then walked over to the door, the only exit. He flipped on the nearby light switch, engulfing the room in a dim light before leaving and closing the heavy door behind him. The sound of an old fashioned lock being turned by a large iron key could be heard throughout the room.

"Okay... Angelo, it looks like we're alone for the night." Rinoa said to the dog.

Angelo approached the door as if expecting it to burst open and gave a few high-pitched whines when it didn't. Rinoa leaned over and gave the dog a pat on the head. "It's okay, he'll be back" she said in a high-pitched voice. Angelo growled at the patronizing tone. It was not threatening in the least, but enough to give Rinoa a startling wake up call. She guessed that Kane's respect towards his dog had given it feelings of human-like superiority. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry" she apologized.

On the other side of the room, Rinoa saw something that perked up her interest. There was a small stereo with headphones plugged in. Curiosity drove her finger towards a button on the device. As the control mechanism was depressed with a click that seemed loud in the dark, a buzzing noise could be heard from within the plastic casing of the entertainment device. Angelo approached as if also interested in the electronic entertainment device.

The CD tray extended, carrying a pure black CD with no writing or pictures. This mystery disc provoked further curiosity from the depth of Rinoa's mind, she new she should have respected the privacy of another whilst in their domain, although her will was weak, a simple fact. The curiosity was just too much for her to handle. What else could she do? She took a breath and pushed 'play'.

It took her the time that it took to raise the headphones to her head and place them over her ears to realize the extremity of the sound produced was simply too much for her undeveloped ears. She couldn't even listen to this 'music' it just sounded like noise to her. Before the loud music could give her a migraine, she hastily pushed a button on the device which just happened to be the "skip track" button.

Rinoa pushed this button a few times more until she found a slow, ballad like song with quite a mild intro. This intro built Rinoa up for a slow drumbeat, dual lead guitar and keyboard melodies allowed her mind to transport her away from the real world. The song seemed to use a dual vocal style, one part played by a sweet feminine voice that reminded Rinoa of her mother's voice; one of the only pleasant memories of her past she had left. The other supplier of 'vocal talent' used a combination of techniques, both conventional and not so.

The second half of this dark album seemed to be similar to this one song. Unusual as it was and easy to misunderstand, but it took her away from all that had ever troubled her and that was all she needed.

Rain began to fall from the sky, she could hear it. It was a soft sound. The music from the headphones combined with the rainfall hitting the tin roof above her.

She lay down and snuggled up to Kane's living, breathing hot water bottle and drifted off to a sound undisturbed sleep...


	5. Chapter V Rivalry

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era:**

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Chapter ****V – Rivalry:**

_Peaceful Era 17, July 6__th__, 0900_

One month had past and all students exams had been completed, marked and returned. All students that scored lower than fifty percent had been dismissed from Garden's register and all cadets over fifteen years of age with average test scores of seventy five percent or more had been accepted for SeeD candidateship.

Any students still classed as cadets were released from Garden either into the civilian world or through an exchange to a military organization, quite often the Galbadian army. This gives students five years to attain the rank of rookie SeeD, the second lowest rank in SeeD, the lowest being WeeD – a probationary SeeD.

Since Rookies and WeeDs were the lowest ranking SeeDs, they received the second lowest salaries in Garden, the lowest going to Faculty and other staff, the highest went to officers and administrators.

Like all military forces, the most money went to those with desk jobs, they took it from those who really earned it, those who fight on the front lines, those who handle the missions and generate Garden's real source of income. This was mostly true however, most of Garden's income disappeared and slipped strait through into the deep pockets of the Garden Master.

Raijin once again, had managed a fifty percent test score average. This allowed him to stay at Garden, but didn't give him the right to take the SeeD exam. This of course was nothing new. In fact, Raijin had scored a test average of fifty percent every year since he first arrived. It was not laziness however, that kept him behind but his inability to think the right thoughts at the right moment. That was his problem, that is why he would always be a part of a posse, never a leader, never a SeeD.

Zell and Seifer however, passed with flying colours. Even Squall managed to scrape by, only just getting over the bar. His unusually high sense of optimism, it seemed had paid off. As for Seifer's other tag-along friend, Fujin as usual passed with no less than perfection. She received a one hundred percent average. She was, after all the brains of Seifer's posse; the disciplinary committee. She rarely scored less than ninety five percent and quite often got the full ten out of ten perfect score. Needless to say, she was always top of the class but never let it bloat her head with illusions of greatness. She had talents but knew her place, for a student in Garden; this was the perfect combination.

The semester had run long a week. Today was Friday the sixth and it was the last day of the semester. That made it registration day for next semester. All students had to pick their preferred classes and instructors.

As usual, most students checked the box for Instructor Trepe wherever it was applicable and Squall felt sure he was the only student to actually read the description for each class. He didn't give a damn what instructor he got, as long as he passed.

For the most part, Squall picked the same classes that he already took, but one level up. Advanced Physics split into various sub-courses such as Nuclear Physics – a long since dead science, Para Physics – the study of the science behind magic, monsters and other abnormal phenomenon. Squall chose General Physics. He also dropped History and Garden Study for Advanced Battle tactics and Advanced swordsmanship.

Squall finished checking the boxes on his terminal. He touched his finger to the touchpad and moved it around. As he did so, the on screen cursor moved about, mimicking the movement of his finger on the pressure-sensitive touchpad. This was the next best thing to touch screens. Everyone knew that Headmaster Cid wanted to upgrade to touch screens, but the Garden Master had refused time and time again, saying "I'm not made of money, Kramer. Although you'd think I was judging how you toss it about."

Squall placed the cursor over an on-screen push-button labeled 'Done' and pushed the 'select' key. A dialogue box appeared with the message 'are you sure? Y/N" Squall pressed the 'y' key and the registration form was sent to the instructor's terminal.

"...Okay, I think that's everyone." The instructor finally said after about half an hour of waiting. "Anyone who did not get accepted for SeeD candidateship, we'll see you after your two month holiday break. As for everyone else, you'll have to wait. The next month will be the hardest you have ever faced. Seifer," she addressed the arrogant blonde sitting at the back of the class. "You took the SeeD exam last year. It was difficult, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was hard all right. I wudda passed too, but everyone got in the way."

"Well, take it from him. After the final exam, you will have next month for your holiday. Those of you who pass will have an extra month of holiday as a congratulatory gift. those who fail will come back the same time as all other Cadets. This ends the current semester... dismissed."

"YO hacer no beleive ella." Grumbled Balamb Garden's Master in his own language. "Cómo lata esto ser? Racha Leonheart es un fracaso!"

"Err; can I have that in Balambese?" Headmaster Cid asked.

The Master let out a roar. "The Master says that Leonheart is a failure." One of the faculties translated.

"You Interfered, Didn't you Kramer! Don't you deny it, I know you did it!" the headmaster challenged.

"No sir, I did not. I did nothing of the kind. Leonheart just managed to qualify on his own."

"Nonsense!" the Master's bark-like retort rumbled through the dungeon-like throne room. "No one manages to qualify the first time they try."

"What about Almassy? Seifer has been taking the exam every year since he was fifteen. Trepe actually passed it at the age of sixteen."

"Very well then, I'll wager you five hundred Gil that Leonheart fails... and I'll tell you one thing. If he does somehow manage to pass, it's because the examination process is too easy."

A member of the faculty approached Cid and said "Thus concludes today's meeting."

"Rechazar" the Garden Master's reply rumbled throughout the immediate area.

"You can go." The Faculty assured Cid. He departed toward the elevator back up to his office. The opportunity to leave this dark depressing place could never arrive too soon.

In the classroom, squall was about to leave until he heard his own name being called by the last voice he wanted to hear. He turned and met the green eyes of Seifer. He had a very smug look carved onto his face. His upper lip curled into a smirk. "Well, what do you know? Me and Fujin passed once again."

"You haven't passed yet" Squall informed him.

"At least we qualified" was the smart reply. "Sounds like Zell did as well, or does he always run around like that?" Zell had been running laps around garden, a big smile on his face. The thing about this however, was the annoyingly large strides that he took. For three days now, Zell had been doing what was commonly referred to by Seifer as the 'dick walk.'

"I... qualified as well." Squall informed him.

"No you didn't" Seifer argued, his arrogance blinding him from the facts. He raised his fist. There was no one around to stop this fight. He forced his fist forward, tightening it just before impact.

Squall knew what was coming and his instincts took over. Before he realised it, he had blocked Seifer's punch with his unclenched arm. He looked up and saw anger and surprise in Seifer's eyes. "How dare you fight back, you think you can take me on?" He let out a small laugh. "Well then, let's see what you've got."

He threw a couple of jabs Squall's way, both of which were blocked. "What's the point in fighting? Needless combat... it's pointless."

"Just because you know there's no way to beat me."

"Whatever." Squall said as he turned his back on Seifer and began to walk away.

"Don't you turn your back on me," Seifer took a cheap shot and hit Squall from behind. He kneed him in the back, and then seized the opportunity to land a blow to Squalls abdomen.

The blow was enough to distract Squall from any thought. He couldn't think, he couldn't even see. He could feel nothing but the pain from the aggressive attack.

"Squall" Seifer leered down from above, feeling so superior. "We're both taking the SeeD exam now. That makes us rivals. When a rival challenges you, you can't just ignore him. He then walked away, leaving Squall to recover alone in the classroom.


	6. Chapter VI Weakness

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era:**

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Chapter VI – Weakness**

_Peaceful Era 16, July 22, 1200_

Rinoa awoke alone in the dark. There were no clocks and no light, this place was like a prison in that there was no way to tell how much time had passed, she had no idea what time it was. All that she knew; she was in no way rested. She felt sure her sleep had been long, calm and undisturbed... yet she felt anything but revitalized.

She was tired, restless, hungry yet full. Her throat was hoarse. Her mouth was dry. The headphones she had worn through the night were discarded. Angelo; it seemed, had left her sleeping partner, perhaps in seek of nourishment or some other fulfillment.

Rinoa found it hard to get up. After some time, she approached the table on the other side of the room. In the dim light, her eye was able to spy three small bowls upon the varnished wooden tabletop. In the middle bowl was rice, the other two were empty.

Unsure of her next action, she began to eat the cold white rice. On the opposite end of the table, she saw one more bowl, this one large and filled to the top with various citrus fruits.

She sat down on the floor and was joined by Angelo. The dog lay down on the floor next to her newfound friend. Rinoa began running her hand through Angelo's fur and as she did, thoughts came pouring in through the open window of her mind.

She had so much going through her mind that Angelo's bark startled her. It was enough to make her jump. Angelo stood up and ran towards the door. She let out three more high pitched barks and the door swung open.

The door opened, swinging forward into the room and with it, entered the light, invading the darkness, the dark much darker than the night. In limped a body; a weary frame, overcome with hunger and thirst. Whose was this body, Rinoa couldn't see. The light was intense, it burned her delicate eyes. She couldn't see. "Who is it, what do you want? She was able to say.

"Relax" was the response. "It's me. It's only me, just me. I have the only key." The figure walked forward into the aesthetically darkened room and Rinoa Saw the true identity of the man. She saw he was Kane.

He looked like Kane, but something about his appearance was off. He appeared weak. He was not the man she had met. He limped into the room and slowly hobbled over to the table. He swept his arm over the table, knocking off the three small bowls.

Rinoa approached him, unsure of the situation. "Kane...? What're you... what's wrong? Can I... Can..."

"Shut up!" his gurgled response boomed everywhere, radiating like a bad smell. "Leave me... just back off, Okay!" He hobbled over to the old timber cabinet on the wall beside the table and opened it with so much force that Rinoa thought it might have come off its hinges.

He took out an old liquor bottle with no label, removed the top and drained the remaining contents down his throat, swallowing the whole lot in one gulp. He lowered the bottle down away from his face and lost his grip on it. The bottle fell from his grasp and shards of glass scattered all over the floor, the resulting clash of glass on floor tile created a sound that broke the solemnity of the grave silence that seemed to suffocate the room.

Kane took a few steps toward Rinoa and placed one hand on each of her shoulders. He tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come. He was able to produce a slight grimace before passing out.

His limp body fell forward and Rinoa's body buckled under the weight, she knew she would never be able to support it. She just managed to hold his unconscious body off her own long enough to back away. As soon as she was out of the way, her arms gave way and his body, free from her support, collapsed in an ungraceful heap on the floor.

Rinoa had been to quite a few parties in her few years and knew a little bit about first aid. She didn't know too much on the subject, she did know what to do when a friend passed out.

She knelt down and rolled Kane towards her, over on his side and put him in the recovery position to stop him from choking on his own vomit. After this, there was nothing she could do. Now, she could only wait for him to awake. Only time could help Kane now. She had done all that she could.

Angelo approached her master... no, Kane wasn't Angelo's master. Rinoa told herself this. She knew this; it is what Kane told her when she first met Angelo. Angelo wasn't Kane's pet. She was his partner, his friend. He held no dominion over her and likewise she held none. They were equals. The fact that she was of a different species had no effect, it had no meaning whatsoever to him.

Kane was the kind of person who is good to his friends. As long as you are smart enough to stay on his good side, you will stay safe, you will not get hurt but if you betray him, if you get on his wrong side, if you are that stupid; you don't deserve to live anyway. This is the kind of impression that Kane gave.

This is how Rinoa felt. This is how he appeared before her. As long as she remained pure in his eyes, as long as she continued to be good to him, he would return the favor. He would protect her and help her out of sticky situations.

If she gave off any impure vibes however, she'd be lost in the jungle, she'd have no way out. She'd have to be careful of what she said to him. She'd already had a few close calls with him. Fortunately, Kane had been able to find the will to resist any temptations. If ever there was a situation with the two of them involving heavy drinking; Kane might just loose control of himself, then she'd be...

Not that she could blame him though; of course he'd feel drawn to her as if manipulated by a large magnetic force. She was after all deeply desirable and quite attractive to the opposite sex... quite attractive for the immaturity of her young body. She was only sixteen and looked better than some women look whilst in their prime, except she was not quite so mature.

Rinoa's teenage vanity often got in the way of her judgment. It got her in many situations. Situations that her father would give her trouble about, situations that he considered trouble to begin with. She simply called it living.

Kane once told her that he owned her. In a way, this was the truth. She had no idea where she was, she had no food, no money, no way of transport and no where to go. No one even knew were she was.

Even if Kane was keeping her against her will, she would have to keep him alive. If he were to die, so then would she share his fate. If Kane died right now, what would Rinoa do? There was nothing she _could_ do.

Kane, for now at least; was breathing and it was his breath that revealed his reason, the obsession that had caused him to pass out in the first place. Stale breath was exhaled from between his parted lips and carried with it, the pungent stink of a night's drunkenness.

Angelo stood over Kane, evidently worried about her friend. She looked up at Rinoa with her dark round eyes, staring through her, as if communicating telepathically. Rinoa knew exactly what Angelo wanted and she was right. It was the least she could do.

Kane would be facing one hell of a hangover when he awoke. For the time being, he was resting, he was calm and he was on a cold hard ground. The least she could do was to make him comfortable. His skin was cold to the touch. Angelo whined.

Rinoa knew she could never move him, so she picked up a bundle of old blankets she remembered seeing in the corner and made up a make-shift bed for him right there on the floor. Angelo lay down, right beside Kane.

Rinoa walked over and closed the door, then walked back and joined the other two. Together they lay in this brief time of peace in the middle of a field of chaos. Together the rested, together they lay, the three of them sharing their body heat.

Some may call Kane weak for drinking so much, But Rinoa had done the same in her life. She had drunk too much at parties. Seeing Kane unconscious, lying there, alone; it was hers, her weakness; it was her own moment of weakness.

**Allright, so that's one long chapter and two more short ones. If anyone is really reading this, I hope it keeps you happy. Next month is my birthday, and I hope to have the next chapter up around about then. Until I do, enjoy the story so far.****  
****thanks,****  
****Michael**


	7. Chapter VII Fork in the Road

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era:**

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Author's Notes: 18 August - Happy Birthday for me. To celebrate, I'm releasing this fanfic chapter. Enjoy.**

**Chapter VII – Fork in the Road:**

Kane stood there, holding the gun with the burning church in the background. She was standing before him, her tear filled brown eyes locked onto his own murky sapphires.

What was he doing? Why was he doing this, to fulfill some stupid vow? Fuck that. They'd all been on a coke rush when they made that sick vow. Had Kane been sober, he'd never have agreed to it. Then again, none of them thought they'd ever have to go through with this. It was just something to make them look hardcore. It was really just a cool thing to say if they were ever interviewed.

Who knew it would come down to this, Kane certainly had no idea it would go this far. They had burned down Timber Chapel. They had committed the Timber Chapel Massacre. Now they were picking each other off, one by one in a euthanasia orgy.

There were only the two of them left and now, here he was; pointing a gun strait in the face of an angel. She was the only one he cherished. She was the only good thing left in a world of corruption and hypocrisy.

"D-do it" she said. He could tell she was suppressing a sob. She wanted to be as far away from this situation as he did.

Kane's hands tightened around the automatic pistol's grip. "No, I-I can't... I just can't do it."

"You have... to"

"I know! But I can't. I can't bring myself to... why do we have to? We're the last ones left. We can run away and live our lives peacefully."

"You said you would, you gave your word!"

"Listen!" he said, emotion bleeding through his voice. "You can't bring yourself to end your own life, can you? Neither can I. What do you think that means?! It's a sign, use it. You're too good to end up like this. You're too good for... for me." He broke eye contact with her. "Just turn your back on me and leave. Leave me here in the hellish warmth of these flames. No tricks, you can just get on with your life."

A slight breeze blew through her raven hair, messing it up. Kane felt a longing for her, her hair, her skin... she was divine; she had not one impurity about her. Even the tear rolling down her cheek did nothing to ruin the image of her face. Why did this have to happen? If there was a god waiting in the next life, he would surely pay for making Kane suffer through this torment.

The angelic being placed her hands around Kane's; she squeezed them tightly and injected a surprising amount of her own body-warmth into him. She struggled to construct a smile upon her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced by a gunshot.

Kane was sure he had not touched his finger to the trigger, yet he felt sure that something had just happened that could never be undone. He saw it in her eyes, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

His eyes glanced down to see a nasty bullet wound. Blood was running down her body under her clothing. Kane was astounded by her will and her strength. She had just been shot and was able to stand on her own. She was standing up to the situation better than any modern soldier wearing body armor would.

Her tough charade however, was coming to a close and her strength was running low. She collapsed forward into Kane's arms. He hardly had enough time to react before quickly dropping his gun and wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Looks like... looks like... I was... I was right. Tonight was our... it was call, our final curtain call... and now, our curtain has closed. Tonight... it closed for the last time" she talked in a barely audible whispered stutter.

"You, you honored the vow, willing or not. Of course you did, you had... you had no choice. You are perfect, inside and out. The least I can do... is to honor it with you."

"Eternal... unrest"

"That's right; together we sleep... together forever"

"Tha... I..." she couldn't get the words out. She tried to smile but couldn't muster the energy, her muscles refused her. The life was swiftly draining from her. She was dying and Kane knew it. He had precious few seconds with her left in this world before she was gone for good.

Her head dropped down to rest on Kane's shoulder. He tried to say something but no words came out. He was running out of time. What was he doing? He never froze like this, "I... I wanted to say something"

"Wha...at?"

"I've been meaning... to say this, I... I want..."

"Stop" her hushed interruption caught his attention in its entirety. "You don't have to say anything"

"But..."

"Don't say it... I already know."

Kane's eyes widened.

She was now whispering in his ear. "It wasn't hard to figure out... I should've said something sooner... I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, you've done nothing wrong" he whispered.

He ran his right hand through her long hair while his left hand touched the soft skin of her cheek.

He lifted her face from his shoulder and gazed at her eyes, dismal and cloudy as they were russet... in them he saw something new, a new look showing in them... uncaring weakness, failure. Her unfocused eyes appeared more gloomy and cheerless than he had ever seen them. She had given up on life... her spirit was fading.

He held her closer to him, so close it was almost painful. She leaned against him in a dying embrace. She used his frame completely for support; she was leaning against him with all her weight.

He tightened his hold around her and she began to struggle. She struggled to hold up her head. He brought his face even closer to hers. At a time like this he was able to contemplate just how weak a couple of human beings really could be.

He gently kissed the loving warmth of her mouth and all her muscles seemed to relax. Her thin pink lips did nothing to resist his intrusion, on the contrary; they seemed to welcome him like an open door.

"All right...put 'er down" An electronically distorted voice said from behind.

Kane felt for her pulse... there was nothing. At some point her soul had passed on during their final embrace. The sad fact; it was their first and last true embrace, their first and last true kiss.

"Put 'er down" the voice repeated.

"She's...she's dead" Kane said aloud, still clutching tightly to the body.

"Drop it already, Kane. Put the body down and put your hands on your head."

He did so, he did it delicately. He turned around with his hands on his head. That's when he saw them, there were four of them. Marines; President Delling's secret police, Existing only in rumors and conspiracies about government cover-ups... but here they were, standing before him.

Each of the four men wore the same uniform; a dark green camo suit of light bullet-proof body armor and a helmet that combined with a face mask and communication device; thus leaving them in direct communication with each other at all times. The man in front held a semi automatic pistol. The remaining three Marine's each held an AK-47 assault rifle, all of which were trained on Kane.

"Which one?" Kane asked the question in a growled tone, demanding of an answer "who made the shot; it was you, wasn't it?" he asked, keeping eye contact on the Marine closest to him, the one holding the pistol with elite martial discipline.

Suddenly, there was a rustling in a nearby tree. An ominous figure jumped out from seclusion and charged for the group. Just before he reached them, he made an impossibly high leap in the air. When he was directly above Kane, he drew his weapons; dual micro Uzis, and did a one eighty degree turn in midair, landing behind Kane."

The man holding the two miniature submachine guns circled Kane like a grounded vulture until he stood with the other armed Marines. His uniform matched theirs.

"So what, do I have to fight all of you now? That's gonna be a pain." Kane said to the five men, removing his hands from his head.

"Freeze!" one of the men shouted in a distorted voice.

"Shut your mouth!" Kane shouted back.

"Relax, Kane. If you were truly our target, you wouldn't be standing there now."

"How do you know my name?"

"We know a lot about you, suspect #33257; First name: Kane... Last name: unknown. We've had you under surveillance for quite some time" said the man with the Uzis, his voice electronically distorted by his mask. All Marines wore the same uniform and used the same voice distorters. This removed the threat of their individuality and hid any officers from hostile sharpshooters.

"And yet you don't seem to know my last name. I guess it's not in the Galbadian government databanks. I know you guys have been too busy dealing with all those... what did you call them again, political prisoners?"

The squadron of marines advanced on Kane. "You should respect us if you know what's good for you" one of them said.

"Forget him" another said. "Blood thirteen, acquire the target"

"Affirmative" another responded. He walked beside Kane and picked up his angel, the one he called 'The Sheik.'

"Don't you come near her!" Kane roared; the sound came from deep down within him.

The Marine approached him and thrust the AK's barrel into Kane's gut, causing him to bend over from the pain. "You shut up and do what we tell you, and you might just survive this night."

"Shut your face" Kane retorted, "And get that gun outa mine." He took up a 'phoenix' defensive stance; leaning down, bent over low with his arms outstretched behind him, rising into the air at forty five degree angles. He quickly rose up to a standing position, performing a palm thrust that caught the marine off guard and sent him tumbling to the ground like a poorly constructed tower.

"You don't want to mess with us, Kane. We can do things to you that would make death seem heavenly."

"You talk too much for stealth ops."

"It is an interesting thing, this girl. The Sheik, it is an odd name. I am curious about its origin."

"Don't you know the word's meaning?"

The marine paused for a short while before speaking. "No... Please, indulge me."

"The Sheik was... In ancient Centra, the Sheik was a man of great importance. He was head of the church... and he who spoke the truths of the gods, so did he rule over the lands. He was the world's wealthiest man and not only was he Sheik; he was also general of the imperial army. Alexander Centra... was the first Sheik of Centra. His title was inherited by his bloodline. There was only one she-Sheik, because she was a woman, she was seen as unfit to rule. Thus began the fall of Centra. The name 'Sheik' means perfection. Her name is a tribute to that legend. So true was it for Centra, so it is true now for her."

"I see. Now I must take her, this 'Sheik' into custody"

"On what charge?"

"Conspiring against our government, of course."

"Bullshit, why can't you puppets screw someone else for a change?"

"We're all puppets here, our leader is flawless and we follow his every whim. In Galbadia, we don't take kindly to stragglers. All must swim down the same stream. So says our perfect president and so we follow, Galbadia strives!"

"Galbadia Strives!" the other Marines chanted in united response."

"Funny," Kane remarked "I thought all were equal in our communist nation."

"Galbadia is a republic!"

"You keep telling yourself that. I'm sure it's the only way you can all live with yourselves."

"Search her" the marine ordered.

"What?" Kane asked in disbelief.

"Do It, Search her!" the marine repeated.

Kane picked up the 'Sheik' and checked the inside pocket of her jacket. There he found a white envelope. The marine snatched the envelope and tore it open. "Just as I thought... She has been in contact with a resistance faction all this time, the Timber Forest Chocobos."

"The target is accused of treason. The verdict: guilty. Response: true, blood team respond!" the Marine with the Uzis commanded.

"Guilty!" the others answered in unison.

"Response: untrue, blood team respond!" the Marine with the Uzis commanded, the others remained silent. "This is Blood team leader calling HQ, permission to report" he waited for a few seconds before continuing. "Mission: pending, target: incapacitated. Target judgment complete, verdict: guilty, response: four-oh green positive. Blood team: moving for extraction zone, report over."

After another pause, the marine took the document he was holding, folded it, placed it back in the envelope and put the envelope inside a utility pocket on his vest.

"What, no trial? Whatever happened to the 'great democratic Galbadian justice system?"

"Republican!" the marine barked. "I'll die before the democrats ruin this great nation, we are marines, blood team; an elite assault team. Marines may act as judge, jury and executioner. Our target has been found guilty and I have all the evidence I need right here."

"Fine, whatever, I don't care what she's done. You killed her, isn't that enough? Just leave us alone. At the very least, she deserves to be mourned by those survivors whom knew her. That would be me."

"Negative, we need her corpse for our mission. Besides, she deserves nothing of the sort. Blood thirteen, take her. One of the marines equipped with an assault rifle bent down to lift up the lady Sheik.

As he did so, Kane kicked him so hard that he flipped over in the air like a pancake and landed hard on his back. "Mitts off!" he said.

"Yeah Kane," the marine squad leader said boastfully. "I know you can fight, your skills are adequate... I guess, for a street fighter... but do you really think you can take us on, even in unarmed combat? We are marines! We make the Rangers of the Galbadian military look like savage toddlers. On top of that, we are the blood red squadron, how do you think we got that name?"

"Luck of the draw?" Kane said sarcastically. By now, he had lifted up the Sheik and was carrying her over his back. Sorry, but I gotta run, not that it hasn't been fun." He raised his palm, which seemed to spontaneously combust. He mentally formed the flame into a ball, about the size of his hand and launched it at the Marines. When the fireball hit the ground, it exploded, showering the area with its ember. The flame burnt out after a few seconds and the smoke soon cleared.

The Marines searched for Kane but he had seemingly run off after launching the fireball.

"Para-magic, how quaint" the Marine leader laughed. "Very well, the hunt begins. This is blood team leader requesting all available units. We are in pursuit of a hostile individual. You may fire at will, shoot to kill. The target is Kane. Repeat, the target is Kane."

"Blue Delta five; Kane took the Sheik? He has the target?" a voice asked over Blood team Leader's radio.

"Affirmative" Red team leader replied.

"Then Kane _is_ the target, Blue Delta five out."

"Right, maintain radio silence until the target is either in custody or incapacitated. That means no talking, Red team leader out." He removed his helmet to reveal tanned skin and short bleached hair. He had a deep scar running across his eye socket. He removed his armor, keeping only the two micro submachine guns and an ample supply of ammunition. "I know we were planning on a long vacation after this mission, but there's been a change in plans" he said to his team, "Find Kane and take him down. I want him dead! Move out!"

The other Marines charged in the direction that Kane had run off in. "Well now, Kane. I've been waiting for this... for quite a long time." He laughed shortly before running after the other Marines.

Kane's eyes flickered open. His breathing began to shallow. He tilted his head to the left to see the girl sleeping beside him. His brain felt like it was pounding against his skull. He recognized the girl sleeping beside him as Rinoa and panic shot through his body faster than a bullet ever could.

He felt worried and afraid. Afraid of why Rinoa slept beside him, was she really sleeping or something worse? He wanted her to wake, so he could ask her so many questions... but he was unable to disturb her, to disturb her peaceful slumber. The thing that scared him, it worried him more than any other. Why couldn't he remember? Why couldn't he recall anything, how... he didn't know how he had gotten here. He hadn't a single clue.

Rinoa... did she... did he? Did they? "Oh Shit, did we...?"

His eyes closed.

Rinoa awoke suddenly. When she remembered where she was, she looked over to Kane. She sat up, took a deep breath then lay back down. She noticed something poking out of his pocket. Carefully, she took it.

She examined the faded photograph. The old object from his pocket, it was an old photo. As she looked at it, it was like staring into a magic mirror, a portal, a rip in time. Five years into her future.

This is it; she thought to herself, this was the photo Seifer had mentioned. She turned and put her arm around Kane. "You awake?" she asked with a grin making it's way onto her lips.

"Could you maybe... back off?" Kane said with closed eyes.

"What's with you anyway? Any normal guy would be enjoying this."

"What may seem fun to you... forget it. I've got a lot on my mind."

"Aw, come on" Rinoa teased. "It was just a joke, just a bit of fun." She sat up once more and looked at the small photo before concealing it behind her thigh. "So... why'd you do it?"

Kane's eyes snapped open. "What?"

"You heard. Why'd you go out last night? I know you drank a lot so where'd you go... and why didn't you invite me? We could've kept each other company. Don't you trust me?"

"I don't... I don't trust myself. I don't trust myself around... around drink, around you. You don't want to see me drunk. I no longer hold anyone or anything dear to me... yet I hurt none of them while sober."

"I think I saw a glimpse of you last night."

"I was afraid of that. Did I... did I hurt you... in any way?"

"No, you basically passed out as soon as you got here."

"Thank Hyne" Kane remarked. He stood, removed the choker from his own neck and placed it around the neck of Angelo, using it as a dog collar. He then walked across to the corner of the room where there stood the wooden table. He picked up a leather dog lead, walked back and clipped it onto the choker chain around Angelo's neck.

He approached Rinoa. "Stand" he ordered. "As soon as Angelo's up, we're leaving.

When Kane had turned his back, Rinoa put the photo in her formally empty pocket and got up on her knees. She ruffled the fur on Angelo's head, waking her from a weak nap.

Kane noticed this and said "Alright, we're off."

"You know; for a man with a bitch of a hangover, you sure are covering it up well" Rinoa commented.

She walked over to join Kane at the door. He had Angelo's lead in hand. "Angelo is well behaved and doesn't always need a lead. I just thought you might want to know." He unbolted the door and was preparing to open it.

"Kane" Rinoa's voice quietly broke the silence. "Kane..." she said once more, a little louder this time. "I have... something of yours. I don't know why I took it, I just had to... I had to see it."

"What are you talking about? Kane asked his mind on other things. "I don't have anything you could've..." he put his hands in his pant pockets, searching them for something. Suddenly his eyes widened in panic as his hands rapidly groped around in his pockets.

"I'm sorry; I just had to see it. I had to see it for myself... because Seifer told me..."

"Seifer?" asked Kane.

She presented the old photograph to Kane. "Please, don't be mad."

When Kane's eyes came to rest on the stolen object in Rinoa's hand, his face was consumed by anger. He snatched the photo from her and held it in both hands as though it were more precious to him than anything else in the world.

He pulled out his empty wallet, placed the picture inside and returned his wallet to his pocket. "I'm sorry." He apologized after taking some time to calm down. "It's just... that photo, it's all I have... All I have left, and that's the sad truth. I can't get over it; I can't get on with my life. It was so long ago and even now... and now you've come along and..." he seemed to trail off, finding himself unable to finish a simple sentence. "Fuck!" he swore in frustration."

Rinoa felt more like a burden on Kane than anything else. "I-I shouldn't have taken it."

"No, you were just curious. I shouldn't have gotten so mad. Now you've seen it, I guess you want to know all about it."

"Not if you don't want to talk about it. I know you haven't told anyone before. Seifer warned me but..."

"Seifer doesn't know half as much as he thinks he does."

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have taken that picture."

"That picture, it is old" Kane said "it is faded and worn, ripped and torn. The last thing I have left from a better time... in reality, I'm not sure it was so great. Come on, we can talk about this on the way.

The three new friends walked together, side by side on a dirty dusty road. The day was so dry and barren; it was like walking on a path built in the desert at midday in blistering daylight hours.

Kane had allowed Rinoa to hold Angelo's lead on the way to the Forest Owl's mobile base. Despite the scorching temperature, it was a relatively peaceful and overall enjoyable journey.

Both Kane and Rinoa took it in turns to speak, their short periodic vocalizations breaking up each length of silence. Kane took a pack of cigarettes out from his pocket and placed one between his teeth. He put away the packet and summoned a ball of fire in the palm of his hand. He cupped his hands around the fire and raised them to his face, putting the cigarette's tip to the open flame.

He took a slow drag from the cigarette, held it and blissfully exhaled the bittersweet toxins. He looked toward Rinoa to see her eyes staring back toward him.

Although Rinoa had never smoked, she knew people who did and had become used to the second hand smell. The smoke did not concern her at all as it wafted up her nasal passage

"I don't suppose you smoke?" Kane said to her.

"No"

"Didn't think so... that's not your style, is it?"

"My style?" she asked.

Kane took another drag before answering. "You got caught up in that whole drug bust scandal."

"How do you know about that?"

"It's been quite a few years of slow news days" he answered "Galbadian newspapers are full of two types of articles; propaganda and gossip. _You_, my young daddy's little princess, made the front page."

"What, the front page? Geese, doesn't anyone have a social life anymore?"

"Apparently not... but hey, that's the price of fame."

"I never wanted to be famous" she said absentmindedly, her eyes transfixed on the ever shrinking cigarette Kane held between his thumb and index finger.

He exhaled more smoke as he spat the bitter words as though they were more cancerous than the tobacco. "No, you never wanted the world to watch you. You never wanted fame, but you willingly reap and relish in its rewards."

Rinoa looked almost insulted.

"Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me you'd be anywhere without Caraway's money."

"I don't have any of his money."

"And where are you"

"I... I don't actually know."

"My point exactly" he said triumphantly. Without me, you'd be lost."

Rinoa tried to argue but knew she was beaten. Kane knew just what to say to win an argument.

"So, _princess_?" he asked "what was it like? What kind of rush did you get? What did you take, anyway?"

"It was... do we have to talk about this? Can't we change the subject?"

"Maybe you should've thought about that before you took the upper express. What was it anyway, meth, coke, what?"

"It was... cocaine" Rinoa said in a lower volume than usual, despite the fact there was no one around to eavesdrop.

Kane raised the remains of the cigarette to his mouth and inhaled deeply before smothering its flame and tossing the butt behind him. "So then, I guess we have something in common."

"Don't get the wrong idea" she said defensively. "I didn't want to, at least... not at first." She looked away from Kane, into the horizon ahead. Under the clear blue sky she saw green. "Now, I actually do regret it. That part of my life... I just want to forget it."

"Bullshit."

"What?"

"You don't truly regret it. You aren't really sorry at heart."

"Yes I am; how would you know? Don't think you can lecture me. You're not my father you know!"

"You're not sorry for what you did. You're only sorry because you got caught. It is not a true emotion; it was implanted in your brain. You were programmed with that false knowledge."

"I can't believe you just said that. I had to do it! It's not like I had a choice! My friends were doing it, everyone was doing it. I couldn't be the odd one out, too scared to try something new."

"So then what, what happened when you got caught?"

"That night... we had another party. I offered the mansion."

"The mansion, you mean Caraway's mansion?"

"I knew he'd be out at a meeting with the president. He wasn't due back for a while. He said he was going out of town for a few days. I think it was two or three, at least."

"So, it all happened in the General's home, right under his nose. Let me guess what happened. Caraway came home early to find a bunch of drugged up teens, right?"

Rinoa shook her head slowly. "No, it was worse than that" she said. "A bunch of cops stormed in and said we all had problems. I tried to say I'd only used it once or twice; it wasn't like I was an addict. I wasn't... I wasn't!" she said to Kane's disbelieving face.

"Sure you weren't" he mocked."

"Anyway, we were all fined for possession of an illegal substance and sent to some stupid rehab clinic."

"They fined you? Is that all, it should've been a lot worse than that."

"They made us a deal. It's not like they had arrest warrants or anything, they didn't even have a search warrant. They said they'd keep it private, keep it out of the courts, you know?"

"What about the substances, the drinks, the drugs."

"The cops took them, said they were evidence."

"Evidence huh, yeah right. I know for a fact those corrupt bastards were using it themselves." Kane looked up at the sky, then to his watch."

Rinoa carried on with her story, not noticing Kane's gesture. "Caraway got me pulled out of there of course, he pulled some strings... but he was impossible to live with after that. He's been getting worse lately. Now he's totally unbearable. That's one of the reasons I came here."

"So you don't really care about the resistance after all then." Kane assumed.

"That's a bonus" she told him. "What about you" she asked, looking at him to see he was staring into the distance. "What about you? Why are you here?"

Kane didn't answer, so Rinoa repeated the question. Still he refused to answer strait away. "I... I made a promise. It was arranged that myself and one other would help to liberate Timber and try get it back the way it was before this damn occupation... before Adel screwed everything up, not that Vinzor Deling didn't do his fair share of bad deeds."

"The way it was? Why, it's not like Timber was so great to begin with."

"Well, that's your opinion. Don't be offended if I don't agree with you."

"Who were you talking about, anyway?" she asked Kane.

"Oh, that. It was... we called her 'the Sheik.'

Rinoa guessed that Kane was talking about the girl in the photo. "What was she like?"

"She... was far above us."

"You mean she was a snob?"

"No" he shrieked. "She was not like that!"

"I take it you liked her then."

"Yeah... what's not to like. She had hair darker than charcoal and skin paler and purer than the clouds in the heavens. Her eyes were brown. 'Dirt brown' some called them, 'dirt common.' Not me though, she may have come from the poverty of Timber but rose from the ashes like a phoenix born from flame. Despite this, she remained eternally modest, from the blessing of her birth, to the dread-filled night of her demise."

He looked at Rinoa closely as though examining every inch of her appearance. "She looked a lot like you" he said. "Sometimes I think it can't be mere coincidence. It's just too..."

"Am I _that_ similar?"

"In appearance: yes. It's so absurd yet I'm sure it must mean something. You are too old to be her reincarnation... but you are too young to be related. If you were alive back then as you are now... if I ever saw the two of you together, I would have no choice but to assume you were sisters."

Rinoa had not thought she looked too much like the young woman from the short glimpse she had of the black and white photograph. Looking at Kane, she saw he was spellbound, mesmerized in his own little world of contemplation.

In the near distance Rinoa glimpsed upon a large shack a quarter mile to the east of the road. "Do you know what that's used for?" she asked, pointing out the Shack.

"That's a pub" he answered "It's a bit dodgy though, I'd advise against going in there, although that's where I went last night. There are a lot of roughnecks who drink there."

"Oh, so that's it. Why don't you use the one in Timber?"

"In that pub there" he said mentioning the Shack "are cheats, liars, rouges, gamblers... hypocrites. They deserve no better than my company and I deserve no better than them."

"Kane... that can't be true. Where do you get this...?"

"Low opinion of myself?" he finished her sentence "yeah, Zone asked me that same question one time. I don't know, I guess it just appeared out of nowhere. I just kept preaching it to myself until I began to believe it. Now, it is law."

"That's sad... your mind, it seems so uninhabitable."

"I must still have some talent. I've even managed to depress you of all people. You who were once so lively and free spirited now seem trapped in a cage of despair."

"So, you never really retired then" she asked, mentioning Kane's long-dead career.

Eventually they walked past the pub and left it alone behind them. The unhappy drunkards inside would drown out their sorrows all day and all night as the bar gathered dust, the building aged through dry rot. The rotting decay of dead rats polluted the insides of the pub as the third rate drinks did the same to the ill-fated customers. Noticing nothing to be at fault, they would waste away their pitiful lives in this dreary place and await their impending inevitable end.

As Kane led Rinoa through the tedious countryside, they passed a tree or small building every so often on the flat landscape sporting distinguishable landscapes few and far between.

After a while, Kane began to continue their conversation from before. "After all this time" he said "I still don't understand it. I still don't know why she had to die. Why she had to be torn from my arms by the riptide of destiny, fates' cruel game with our lives... sometimes I get _so_ _sick_ of it."

Rinoa looked up at Kane with a look of sorrow.

"When she died, I fell into an endless rut of depression. I never thought I'd get out of it, it was so... so..." he trailed off in mid sentence, apparently not having any way to finish up the speech. "But she was so pure... like a guardian angel. She deserved so much better than what she got. She was a seraph brought up in this dark dying place, trapped on this earth. She was never meant for us but still graced us with her presence."

They walked in silence, separated from the rest of the world. There were no mobs of people rushing by. This quiet place contrasted the big city in so many ways. Since Deling was labeled 'the city that never sleeps' it was quite different from the uneventful surroundings of Timber and Rinoa was beginning to see why people enjoyed this kind of lifestyle. Even Angelo seemed to be enjoying the long walk in silence.

Rinoa looked at the colours on the horizon. The lush green was changing to a shabby brown.

"We're getting close" said Kane "the town is just up ahead, look."

Rinoa nodded "I see it."

As they approached the town, Rinoa began to notice the dust clouds clogging the air, it thickened as they walked ever closer. Of course these dust clouds were nothing compared to the layers of industrial smog shrouding Deling city in filthy darkness.

They approached the large stone gate, the entrance to the town. When the two guards saw them, they began to panic. They were the same two guards as before.

Kane came to a halt before Rinoa realized. "Aw no" he remarked.

They walked forward, dreading the awaiting confrontation.

"Ah, It's you." One of the guards said. "Suspect #33257, Kane."

"What?" Kane asked in response to the unusual greeting from the complete stranger.

"That is your name, isn't it? Isn't that the name held by those at the top of the Galbadian government?"

"Why does Galbadia care so much about me?"

"They've been searching for you."

"Spare me the small talk. Let me guess your point, maybe then we can get back on track. Let me guess; you're not going to let me in through here, are you?"

The guard smirked. "That's the least of your worries."

"What do you mean?"

A third guard appeared out from his hiding place. "Hello Kane, It's been a while" he said. Under his helmet we wore an eye patch.

"And just who are you supposed to be" Kane asked with tones full of contempt.

"Don't tell me you don't remember" the third guard asked. He removed his helmet and eye patch. His fair hair was shaved almost to the scalp. Behind the eye patch was no concealed eye. Discoloured skin had grown over the socket. Above and below the eye socket was the trace of an old battle scar.

"I have no idea who you are and to tell the truth, I couldn't really care less. I think less of you than I did of my old man."

"But it's been such a long time. I've missed you. These twelve years have been hard on me, but now... I thank Hyne that I was the one to find you first."

"Who are you?" Rinoa asked.

"Me, I'll reveal to you my codename then, shall I? I am Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Thompson, Galbadian Marine #3351, proud member of the Galbadian Marines, Blood Red squadron."

Time seemed to slow down for Kane as his mind went racing back to his meeting with the Marines.

"My Codename: Red Team Leader."

Kane's expression had turned sour at the recollection of his prior meeting with the man.

"So who's this then?" the Marine asked. He walked closer to Rinoa.

"Don't come any closer! Stay where you are!" Kane demanded in a demonic growl Rinoa had never heard before.

"Well Kane, She looks exactly like the other one. You've cheapened her memory with this doppelganger... that's what you've done." He began to laugh. "...And you once said I have no respect for the dead."

Before Rinoa knew what was happening, Kane's tightly clenched fist had flown speeding past her and strait into the Marine. The jab seemed powerful enough to shatter a cement brick, although the Marine's unarmored hand caught it like a tennis ball.

"Don't you get it? You can't beat me, No one can. A Marine's body has heightened dexterity and constitution. We cannot be killed. We are gods."

"So what, your body's been manipulated, like the fabled Cyborg's of Esthar?" Kane answered back.

"But Galbadia doesn't have that kind of technology" Rinoa argued.

"Oh" the Marine answered contrarily "You'd be surprised." He squeezed Kane's fist, almost crushing it in his hand. Kane tried to pull back his hand. Finally the Marine released his grip and Kane stumbled backward.

"Rinoa, I may need to fight this guy. Please don't get in the way. Just stay back" Kane said.

"You really hate this guy, don't you" Rinoa answered.

"Yes."

"Then... you do what you have to do. I won't interfere."

"Thank you."

"Aw... how sweet. Too bad, after I kill you I'll have to extract the life from her sweet supple cadaver" the Marine taunted.

"You'll have to lay me to rest before you even get near her" Kane said.

"That shouldn't be too hard" the Marine laughed, he took up a defensive fighting stance. "Now, let us end what was begun so long ago."

"We'll turn a blind eye" the two _real_ guards stated.

Kane dashed forward, jumped and flipped in mid-air. He landed in a handstand and pushed against the ground, propelling himself once more into the air. He flipped again, forcing a hard kick in the direction of his opponent.

The Marine simply reverse dived to evade the attack. While gliding backwards through the air, he reached inside his jacket. From within each of his two inside breast pockets, he drew a cut-throat razor. He flicked both razors so that the blades were extended and threw them spinning in the air towards Kane.

One flew strait past Kane. The other, he managed to kick away. Falling in its new direction, it landed on the hard ground barely half an inch away from Rinoa's foot. Picking it up for closer examination, she saw the sharp underside of the blade was full of crude serrations. This blade had clearly been modified for the bias of tearing flesh rather than cutting.

"Take a look Kane" the Marine stated before landing in a backward roll and jumping to his feet. "Those blades can easily tear a new hole in anyone. They're a messy business. No longer can you call yourself the master shredder. You're self proclaimed title has been taken over by a simple weapon!"

"What are you, a soldier or a savage?!" Kane retorted.

"I am a Marine... a Warrior!" the Marine answered.

"Whatever you're calling yourself..." Kane began but instead of finishing his sentence, he rushed the Marine with a quadruple spin kick topped off with a left hook and a roundhouse kick.

All six hits connected and knocked the Marine down. Kane drew his pistol and got in position to perform his signature finisher.

Before he could fire a shot off, he felt a sudden pain near his ankle. He looked down to see an object sticking out from the bottom of his leg

"You didn't really think it'd be that easy, did you?" the marine asked.

Kane felt a painful tension from the injury in his leg. He found it difficult to move, like an alien paralysis was restricting him, tightening every joint in his skeleton like a wrench wielding maniac, a crazed inventor over-tightening the bolts on his latest abomination.

"Are you feeling it yet?" the marine said sneering up at Kane "How do you like it? My foul blade of the Wraith, it is venom tipped. Soon you will be unable to even move." He bellowed out a loud insane laugh as he rose to his feet.

No sooner was the marine standing upright than he was on his back lying flat on the ground with Rinoa atop of him.

"Well Kane" the Marine taunted "It seems your young lady friend has made her preference. Watch as she straddles me so... so willingly."

"Shut up!" Rinoa screamed in disgusted response. With her right hand clenched tightly into a fist, she pounded it violently into the Marine's face. With her face contorted in anger and eyes full of hate, again she hit him, again and again. Repeatedly and with excessive force and prejudice she continued her pulverizing assault on the man's smug face.

"She runs to you not out of affection... but as an emotional response. True feelings, look into her eyes... you see the truth" Kane hid the pain from the agonizing sting of the poison blade from escaping through his speech. He would give no man that satisfaction. No one could know the torture his body was going through.

Rinoa still punched the Marines face. Blood dripped from his broken nose and Rinoa was starting to feel the exhaustion caused by aggressive combat once the adrenaline rush wears off. Despite this, she found she could not stop her emotion fueled rampage on this bastard's bloody face.

Unnoticed by Rinoa, the Marine below her was beginning to stir. She continued to pummel him as he made his move. Quick as a flash of lightning, his arm struck swiftly and silently like a snake snatching its prey.

He caught her fist in the coarse palm of his hand. He quickly tightened his grip on her, squeezing her, crushing her soft hand in his monstrous blood stained claw. His mutilated face grinned in glee as he extracted a pained gasp from his new prey.

Rinoa hesitated for a split second that seemed to stretch on for an unimaginable length of time. She tried to attack him with her free hand but this was caught by the Marine. Now he was in control of both her upper limbs.

"Call me sexist if you must, but I don't believe that a woman should ever be on top of a man... no mater the circumstances" the Marine said. He forcefully rolled over so that he lay on top of Rinoa and she was trapped under his weight, lying there with legs spread open like a pathetic whore.

"Now" the Marine taunted her "Isn't that much better? Even in the world of Canines, it is the female who is labeled the bitch. Why do you think that is?"

"We have only just met" Rinoa answered, struggling to keep the emotion out of her voice. "But I already hate you just as much as Kane does."

"Is that so?" the Marine asked. He spat in her face, his saliva landing in a glob on her tightly closed lips.

He forced all his weight behind him in a backward swing. When on his feet, he turned around to face the struggling Kane. With his left hand, he released Rinoa's right hand and wrapped his arm around her torso. With his right hand he released her left hand and wrapped his arm around her throat tightly in a sleeper hold.

The Saliva began to drip down her chin. She spat on the ground to get the majority of the foreign fluid away from her mouth.

"That's not very ladylike of you" the Marine smirked.

"Given the situation" she replied "I don't really feel much like a lady, damn pig."

"Watch what you say to me" he hissed "Or I could easily..." he paused in mid-sentence.

Rinoa looked to Kane for some kind of explanation for why the Marine just ceased talking in the middle of a threat like that. Kane's eyes were wide. "What're you doing here?" he asked.

"Watts told me this Chocobo turd was asking around town for you so I thought I'd drop by" a voice answered from behind. Rinoa instantly recognized the voice as belonging to Seifer. "Now, be a good little piggy and let her go" he ordered the Marine in a patronizing tone.

"You don't know me at all, do you? Why should I do that?" the Marine asked stubbornly.

"Well, I tried negotiating so don't say I wasn't reasonable."

The Marine briefly cried out in pain. After a brief period, he gave another short cry.

"...And here I was thinking you Marines couldn't feel pain" Seifer taunted. He then appeared in front of Rinoa and tore her from the Marine's grasp. As soon as Rinoa was out of the Marine's hold, his arms fell limply to his sides. She turned to look at him to see he had an open gash below each shoulder.

Seifer had a bloody dagger in his hand; he drove it into the Marine's gut. He reached into the pitiful man's pocket and took out a glass vial. "What's this?" he asked. He threw it to Kane. It hit him and smashed, saturating a small patch of his clothing with its contents. The liquid immediately began to evaporate with fumes so strong they were clearly visible.

"Seifer, he's paralyzed!" Rinoa informed him.

"That's right" the Marine butted in. "He's been infected with a deadly toxin and that vial contained the last dose of the only batch... that was only antidote and now it's gone."

"Oh, shit... sorry about that Kane."

"Don't sweat it" Kane replied, walking towards them stiffly."

"It is fortunate that you did that... because that antidote needn't be administered orally. It works best when inhaled. I did my research. I know all about your poisons and in a couple of minutes... I'll be back to normal."

He took his pistol and harshly began to pistol whip the marine's already battered face in criss-cross patterns. He smashed the gun against the man's jaw so hard that he broke the bone. The man's jaw fell limply open and he shoved the barrel of his gun in through his mouth.

"What did you say your name was again?" he asked. The Marine's reply was muffled and incomprehensible. "Oh well. I wonder Mister Red team Leader, are you a god fearing man?" he leered down at his victim inspiring a look of fear. "Because thou art officially fucked." Without any faltering, he mercilessly squeezed the trigger and put an end to the tough bastard's life.

The close-impact shot from the Colt45 pistol had left a gaping hole in the back of the Marine's head. It wasn't necessarily a large hole, but it is not the size of a wound that tells its lethality.

The serene corpse fell to the ground. The Marine: Red team Leader, leader of the Blood Red squadron; was finally dead. Quite often the dying must suffer for some period before their passing. In this case, the dying spirit passed strait on through without feeling the pain of death. He had been fortunate in his demise.

"Damn it, you lucky bastard, even in death you have beaten me" Kane whispered to himself. He holstered his gun.

Rinoa looked at Seifer.

"Geez, never a dull moment for you, is there" he joked. "It's like 'The Wild One' all over again.

Looking away from Seifer, she approached Kane. "Kane, what happens now?" she asked.

"I... I need a drink" he replied. He approached the two Timber guards.

"I have only one thing to say" the guard told him. "That man... he was driving me mad. You took it a little too far I think, but thank you for dealing with him. This one time only, you may pass through."

"Hey, but that's..." the second guard protested, only to be silenced by the first.

"Come on, we're clocking off early today. As of right now, we are off duty until tomorrow morning." He walked away and the second guard followed him.

Kane, Rinoa, Seifer and Angelo all walked strait into the town of Timber with no frustrating guards to harass them.

It had been a quiet ten minute walk to the pub located at the end of the commercial side of Timber, the end of the commercial district's eastern road. Inside the building, Rinoa and Seifer sat at a table while Kane was up at the bar. Angelo had been tied up outside in accordance the pub's rule number one: no animals allowed.

Rinoa looked to the wall behind Seifer. "How long is this going to take?" she asked. Although this seemed like a perfectly fine place to stop for a while, she just couldn't trust people she met in pubs and night clubs. More often than not, they all ended up being real creeps. Sitting sober in a bar like a gaggle of middle-aged women sitting and talking in a café just wasn't her idea of a good time.

"What's wrong, don't you like my company? " Seifer asked.

"No... It wouldn't be so bad if we could actually order something."

"Maybe you can't, but don't worry. I'm sure Kane can cover the cost of your drinks." He saw the puzzled look on Rinoa's face and laughed. "That's tight, you're from Galbadia."

"So?" she answered back somewhat harshly.

"In Galbadia, the drinking age is higher."

"Twenty one" she answered.

"Yeah, well... in Timber, the legal drinking age is eighteen."

"Really?" she asked with obvious excitement which soon died down. "...but even so, I'm only sixteen. I'm still too young." In Galbadia she used a fake ID but she no longer had that particular item on her person.

"So what, I'm only Seventeen and no one is stopping me."

"Why not?" she asked obviously interested in his explanation.

"This is Timber, not Galbadia. Try to remember that. The drinking age only applies to whoever buys the drinks. As long as we're here with Kane, we can legally drink whatever he buys us."

"Speaking of which" he added, standing up. "Wait here" he said.

He walked over to the bar, probably to talk to Kane. Rinoa turned and watched him as he left. He wore a dark blue vest with dark blue pants, over which he wore a grey open trench coat.

Seifer stood beside Kane for some time. After a while, the two of them looked over at Rinoa. She was about to join them until they turned back. She suddenly felt left out by those whom she assumed to be her friends and felt unsure of what to do next. Should she approach them? Should she stay or should she leave, where could she go?

She looked back and saw Seifer walking towards her. She stood up and began walking towards him. When she got close to him, he simply said "Stay here, don't follow me."

"What?"

"I got some shit to take care of" he replied.

"What about me?"

"I don't know, figure something out" he said rolling his eyes. "Don't be so damn clingy."

After he left, she wondered to herself where that attitude came from.

Rinoa realized she had been standing in the middle of the room for a little too long and people were starting to stare. What was their problem, hadn't they ever seen a girl before?

She was about to leave but then she saw someone looking strait at her. It was Kane. She took a few steps toward him but then stopped unsure whether to go up to him. She thought she saw him smile, his upper lip curling upwards in a cruel smirk. Was he laughing at her?

She went up and stood before him. "What was all that about?" she asked, demanding an answer.

"What are you talking about? He asked innocently.

"Why did Seifer leave, what did you say to him?"

"Oh, that. Don't worry about it."

"Did you tell him to stay away from me or something?"

"Oh no, it's nothing like that."

"Tell me" she demanded "What, don't you want anyone getting close to me because I remind you so much of the woman you couldn't control?"

Rinoa knew she had angered him, wounded him deeply. His face contorted into a scowl and his fists clenched.

"What now, are you going to hit an innocent teenage girl in broad daylight? Please, you'd never get away with it."

"Don't you give me that" he growled at her through clenched teeth "you aint so damn innocent. Now stop being such a Hyne damned bitch and sit the fuck down and join me or else you can piss off and try to make your own way in this world for once, instead of relying on handouts. You're on the road to becoming a filthy fucking whore."

Taken aback slightly and more than a little insulted by the aggressive response she received from Kane, she sat down on the closest barstool. Looking at Kane, she saw his fists had opened and his face had relaxed to a more serene neutral expression.

She looked ahead and into the face of the barman. He was an average height with short thinning brown hair. He rubbed his right eye with the middle finger of his right hand. "Excuse me young lady" Rinoa heard Kane snicker at the last word "how old are you?"

She looked to Kane and saw a smirk on his face before he hastily turned away. She'd receive no help from him here; the bastard picked the worst possible time to grow a sick sense of humor.

"I'm uh... sixteen."

"Look, we're pretty slack around here, but you just come here underage and expect service. Come back in a couple of years, fine but not now. Sixteen's too young. The Drinking age is eighteen."

"But I..."

"I don't care what excuse you have. The law is the law, out, now."

"But if you..."

"Look here little missy, you don't make the rules so you can't break them, neither can I. Please leave with dignity before I throw you out. Now out, out!"

"Relax, she's with me" Kane interjected.

"Oh... I see."

"I bet you feel like a real ass now, right?"

"I... I think I'm needed in the back" the barman said, hurrying off.

"Sure you are" Kane said doubtfully.

"Why'd you wait so long?" Rinoa whined.

"I wanted to see how you'd handle under pressure. I'm not entirely impressed with the results, yet I never expected you to succeed."

"What would you have done?"

"Next time... give whoever it is a bribe, or try flattering them. A little admiration goes a long way with the vain weak minded fools of this world."

"Bribe... with what, I don't have any money right now, remember?"

"When dealing with security guards and such, the feminine body can quite often be of more use than anything of material value. You should flirt with him a little more."

"What, you want me to... but I thought you didn't want me to be a... well, you know."

"No, there's no need to take it that far. Should you flirt: yes, should you degrade and humiliate yourself publically for them: possibly, but offer yourself unto their lustful fantasies: there is no need. Show off your body, flatter _yourself_ before you flatter your target. I can't believe I'm saying this, but to be a successful female resistance fighter you are going to have to learn how to flirt with those whom you despise the most."

Rinoa, who had remained quiet while Kane talked, found her mouth was dry. She tried to swallow but found it difficult.

"If you'd like a place in the Forest Owls, you've got it. Do you want it?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well, have a think about it. Would you rather live in a mobile base, always on the move with people your own age in Timber; or would you rather live with Caraway in his mansion in the big city?"

"Both of those have drawbacks, but I don't know if I _can_ go back. Could I stay with you for a while?"

"...with me?"

"Yeah, for now at least, until things die down with Caraway... maybe a little longer, I'm not sure."

"You can join the Forrest Owls and live in their base." He looked away "is that what you want?" he asked.

"...yeah" she replied detecting nothing peculiar about the way Kane had phrased his response.

"Then so be it, that train is now your home."

"Thanks."

"Yeah... don't worry about it..." Kane mumbled in response.

After the conversation had dried up, the barman returned and stood before the young group. "Oh, I see you're still here" he said, stating the obvious.

"Yes, that's very observant of you" Kane said coldly, his bitter attitude seemingly appearing from nowhere. Rinoa suppressed a laugh at Kane's bitterly sarcastic comment.

"So, can I get you anything?" the barman asked.

"Yeah, you can get us a couple of pints" Kane answered.

"Two?" the Barman asked.

"Yes, that's right" Kane said, still talking in tones of bitter sarcasm. "One for me and one for her, one and one make two." He lifted his hand to show the barman two fingers.

"Right" the barman replied. "Anything in particular, what's your preference?"

Kane looked at Rinoa. "I don't know I'm not much of a beer drinker so I don't really mind" she said.

"Whatever you recommend then" Kane said to the barman "and try to make it quick. I haven't really got all day you know."

"Bitter or sweet then?" the barman asked.

Kane looked at Rinoa once more, who shrugged her shoulders at the decision. "Better make it bitter" Kane said.

"Right" the barman said before disappearing under the bar. He soon reappeared with two beer mugs which he then filled from one of the many taps protruding from the top of the bar. He then presented the two drinks to his customers and quickly retreated to the back of the bar through a 'Staff Only' door, lest he suffer more verbal abuse.

Rinoa picked up the mug before her and raised it to her lips. She took a mouthful of the brown liquor into her mouth then put the mug back down. From the moment the drink touched her tongue she struggled to keep a strait face.

"Do you like it?" Kane asked her. She nodded, still fighting against her facial features. She thought she was doing a pretty good job, at least until she heard Kane say "come on, it can't possibly be that bad."

She turned to face him and saw he was silently laughing at her. He drank a large mouthful from his own mug and swallowed it easily. "Yeah, that _is_ bitter" he said "Although it's nothing compared to what I usually drink at the other pub."

Kane quickly consumed his drink and waited for Rinoa to finish hers. By the time the last drop had hit her tongue, Rinoa had acquired a liking for the taste.

"Finished?" Kane asked.

"Yeah" she nodded.

"Let's go then." Kane had already risen to his feet and was ready to leave. Rinoa did the same. They turned to leave and began to walk away from the bar until they were stopped by a voice from behind them.

"Hey, wait a minute you two!"

They turned around. The barman was staring at them, or more accurately; he was staring at Rinoa, the weaker of the two. He knew he'd be able to dominate _her_ a lot easier.

"What about the drinks you ordered, who's gonna pay for those?"

"Oh well, about that..." Kane said.

"Kane, you don't have any money?" Rinoa asked him in disbelief.

"Seifer was gonna pay" he answered.

"Let me guess, Seifer's not here. How convenient" the barman said.

"But Seifer said you'd spot me" Rinoa objected.

"Sly bastard" Kane cursed to himself "he had no intention of paying."

"What about my money?" the barman moaned like a spoiled brat.

"Hold on" Kane said "I've got an idea." He put his arm down to his side and his fingers curled around the grip of his pistol. He drew it and pointed it strait at the barman.

Rinoa couldn't believe this. "Kane!" she whined.

"Relax" he said with a smile.

"You... you robbing me?" the barman accused "you'll never get away with it." He ducked down behind the bar and began rummaging with unseen bottles. Rinoa distinctly heard him mumble "damn, where is that thing?"

He returned into plain sight empty handed.

"Don't worry, I'm not robbing you. He placed the gun gently down on the bar. "Take it, in exchange for what I owe you. Trust me; it more than covers the cost of those two drinks."

"But Kane, you can't pawn your gun for a couple of drinks."

"Why not, it's not like it was a gift or anything. It was only my father's so it bears no sentimental value whatsoever... besides, I don't need a gun. I can kill a man with my bare hands."

"Very well, you are free to leave" the barman said.

"Thank you" Kane said as he turned and took a few steps toward the exit. He stopped when he noticed Rinoa wasn't following. "What is it?" he asked.

"I can't believe you just did that."

"Don't give it a second thought, I wont." He continued walking; Rinoa eventually followed him out, not wanting to get lost.

Outside, Rinoa noticed that Angelo was gone. She asked Kane about it.

"Seifer must've taken her. He wouldn't leave her tied up if he was going back to the base. Also, he would've told us if she had escaped."

"Are you sure?"

"You can trust Seifer. He can be a real dick sometimes, but overall he's a good guy."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right, now come on."

"Where are we going, anyway?"

"The train station" Kane explained.

"Which one?" Rinoa asked.

"One of the local stations, near the bridge, it's close to the transcontinental railway line that passes through this town up in the residential district."

Alone once more, together they walked to the northern residential district. The thick dust clogging the air gave it a dirty brown hue. The sun was up at its highest point in the sky. It seemed Rinoa was in for yet another pleasant walk with Kane but she was about to learn an important lesson; luck flows around in a cycle.

Fortune may smile upon you today, but soon the cycle of luck will change positions, leaving you fending off fiends alone in the dark to contend with disaster and catastrophe, misery and calamity. The blessing of luck can so easily become pain of ruin.

Ignorant to this truth, Rinoa was surprised when Kane suddenly stopped walking.

"What is it?" she asked.

She received only a hushing sound from Kane, instructing her to silence.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"G-soldiers" he replied in a hushed tone.

"G-Soldier?" she asked.

"Galbadian soldier, from the Galbadian army" he explained.

"What are _they_ doing _here_?"

"This is an occupation, what do _you_ think?"

The soldier was getting closer. His uniform was blue with black body armor overtop. He had the Galbadian insignia in white on his left shoulder. Rinoa had always detested that insignia ever since the first time she laid eyes upon it.

Call her unpatriotic but Rinoa hated the Galbadian flag. She hated Galbadia's national anthem and she hated Galbadia's fascist government. She hated the flag most of all. The flag was a simple design, a crimson background featuring the Galbadian insignia.

She had first seen that forsaken insignia as a little girl and had instantly been terrified of it. Although it may have consisted of only three shapes, it forced itself into her mind and caused her to imagine a face. Loathsome and anguished it was.

_The first time she saw it, she had cried. She knew she was an embarrassment to her mother and father, but she didn't care._ Now she understood. The flag of her nation inspired not fear in her heart, but anger. Now she knew what it meant.

The country's insignia stood for the pain and misery the president had caused to the people of the world on his way to the top in his conquest of power. He had lied, cheated and even imprisoned innocents for doing no more than exercising their freedom of speech.

The president of Galbadia did not need the love and respect of the citizens, he ruled them through fear. He was detested by the entire world but had still managed to rule the nation since the revolution.

Because of the prison established in Galbadia's barren desert wasteland, no one dared run against him in an election, no one dared criticize him publically. The face Rinoa had envisioned when looking at Galbadia's flag had been the one shared by many, the poor souls rotting in the Desert District Prison; the sespit of brutality that stood for Vinzor Deling's fascist regime, his malicious mockery of a republic.

The Soldier crept ever closer to them. Rinoa closed her eyes as every muscle in her body seemed to tense up until it was painful. After some time had passed, Rinoa assumed that the soldier and the danger he posed had passed. She breathed easy.

"Oh Shit!"

Rinoa's eyes instantly snapped open wide and her chest contracted, painfully trapping the air in her lungs. She found herself unable to breath in or out. Time stood still for the longest instant.

"It's the resistance!"

Rinoa was frozen to the spot, frozen in fear. She couldn't budge even if she wanted to. She couldn't fight a real battle. Sure, she could talk tough but when it came to violence…

The scene seemed to unfurl around her, ignoring her. She was nothing more than an intruder, a spectator. In her slowed down bullet-time view of the scene she saw before her, she saw for the second time that day Kane running in front of her to combat his foe. He took the role of aggressive attacker and of protector.

Kane rushed him with an offensive barrage of punches and knee jolts before the soldier had even drawn a weapon. A well placed kick sent the soldier up into the air, only to land a few seconds later.

It seemed like the end of the fight, but this battle was far from over. The soldier stood up, cursing Kane's name under his breath. He drew his sword; the three foot long steel blade glistened in the sun. The top of the blade was rounded and blackened. The polished hilt was wrapped in leather.

"Longswords of that length are reserved for the most skilled of all warriors. What's a dog of Galbadia doing wielding one? That's a fucking insult!" Kane bellowed.

"When are you extremists gonna learn?" the soldier asked arrogantly, completely ignoring Kane's remark.

The soldier swung his sword at Kane, who ducked and dodged it with ease. "Should've taken an easier weapon, junior" he taunted. He dodged several more attacks from the soldier's longsword.

Kane began spinning around, ducking lower and lower to avoid the soldier's crazed attacks. When he was close enough, he put out his left arm behind him and with his right hand; he savagely thrust a fist into the soldiers gut.

Kane cringed from the pain his own blow had caused him but felt a rush of pride in knowing he had broken through the soldiers armor. He surely would've heard the crack of his knuckles on the armor, had he not been deafened by adrenaline.

He swiftly spun one hundred and eighty degrees and using his left hand, he knocked off the soldier's helmet.

Kane thrust his left arm forward, his hand flat, his fingers strait out. He retracted his two middle fingers and placed his thumb over them. A sly grin crept itself onto his face.

He crossed his right arm over his left, by the elbow. From elbow to fingertips, he bent his left arm up towards him. He bent his wrist forward so his fingers faced his foe; he then rotated his hand by the wrist so his fingers faced himself. He then bent his wrist back so his closed palm faced upward and his fingers faced the soldier, his thumb still covered his middle and ring finger.

"Allow me to show you" he growled "A fighting style of my own development."

What Rinoa then witnessed went by in a blur. Kane's body twisted to and fro and his limbs thrashed about as if he were possessed by a demon. He moved so fast that Rinoa's eyes had trouble tracking him.

Kane battered the soldier with every impromptu weapon his unarmed body possessed. It was just like he had always said, he had no need for guns or swords; he could cause enough damage with his bare hands, elbows, knees and feet. Even his head, when properly applied could be used as a dangerous weapon.

His arms and legs seemed to be flying all over the place, but he somehow managed to stay in control of them and almost every hit landed hard on the soldier who was simply patrolling in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A hard kick caused the soldier to drop his sword. He was stunned, to say the least. Kane jumped and preformed a perfect back flip. While still in the air, he held his arms out in front of him with his open palms facing the soldier.

Red orbs appeared in Kane's hands, one in each. The Red energy began moving, rotating, flaring up. This was class two fire magic, the spell: Para-fira. For its class, its power was only measured as a level one on the Odine scale but even so, the Galbadian military hadn't even utilized this spell. Kane had just now conjured up two of said spell.

He launched the first spell from his left hand, then the second spell from his right. The two blazing balls of magical power expanded in the air, the oxygen in the atmosphere feeding the fire, causing them to grow in size and potency. As they flew towards their intended target, they left behind them a trail of heat and light, similar to a comet's tail.

The two Firas sped toward the soldier like air-to-ground misiles. They both hit at the same time, engulfing the soldier in a massive explosion. The sound from the blast was exceeded only by the soldier's screams of agony as the intense flames licked his charred body like so many tongues in a house of incest.

When the flames died down, the sight of the soldiers blistered and scorched remains forced Rinoa to place a hand over her mouth to suppress a scream.

"Sorry you had to see that" Kane told her. He picked up the three foot longsword. "G-soldiers never work alone. There's another one around here somewhere, I'm sure of it."

There was a noise behind them that sounded similar to a stone hitting a hard dirt floor.

"And that would be him" Kane said. He turned around and charged in the direction of the noise. He confronted the soldier in hiding and violently swung the sword in a downward motion. The long blade bit into the soldiers flesh, instantly dismembering him from the shoulder.

The soldier cried out in pain as crimson blood pumped from his severed artery. Kane swung at the soldier again using an uppercut slash to knock his bleeding casualty into the air. The body rose six feet into the air before falling back down. Kane held the sword so the blade's point stood up in the air at the highest point.

Inevitable as it was, Rinoa could not prepare herself for the soldiers impending grotesque demise. In fact, she was dreading this more than the soldier himself. She had seen violence before in movies, but this was the first time she had ever witnessed first hand this level of brutality.

The body of the dying soldier fell unto the blade, savagely impaled by three feet of steel. He let out yet another excruciating cry of pain which eventually died down as his blood drenched body finally began to slip into tranquility and his three remaining limbs relaxed as gravity forced them downward.

Kane threw the sword down onto the soiled earth. He walked towards Rinoa and she met him with a look of terror. "Don't look at me like that" he whispered. "I'm not proud of that… but it _had_ to be done."

Rinoa stood speechless, traumatized by the sight of Kane committing these ruthless acts of malice.

"Those were soldiers, the enemy. They're paid to serve, their purpose is to die."

"Is that supposed to… justify your actions?" Rinoa asked, pausing to find the right word. "Who are you trying to convince… me, or yourself?"

"We… we have to go" Kane said, changing the subject, his voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I'm sorry" Rinoa apologized. "I shouldn't have said that. You've taken care of me all this time but… it was the shock of seeing you…"

"I know" Kane interrupted before she said anything that made either of them uncomfortable.

"Let's go" Kane said hoarsely.

Kane walked in front, followed by Rinoa. They walked northwestward, towards the sun in its current position. This unfortunately resulted in a bright glare, almost blinding. Fortunately for Rinoa, she was walking in just the right place so that Kane's body blocked most of the glare from hitting her face.

"Tell me about your old band" Rinoa said, trying to restart a pleasant conversation before they reached their destination.

"What don't you already know? You were listening to us last night."

"That was _you_?"

"Yeah, that was our last album. The Sheik was my backing vocalist on that one."

"I think I liked her voice, it almost reminded me of my mother."

Kane looked at her with narrow eyes. "I'll try not to feel insulted" he said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said in mock offence.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I hate pop music, so I must also hate your mother."

This time, Rinoa really did look insulted.

"I told you not to get upset" Kane said in response to Rinoa's expression. "It's nothing personal, I don't hate your mother as a human being, and I don't hate her voice… it's just the business she got into. It's too damn commercial."

"How can you say that? You never even met her!"

"That's just my opinion, my generalization."

"I see… What about your music though, is that any different?"

"We never sold out. We had so many opportunities to enter the music mainstream, but every time the mainstream slackened, we got more extreme, simply for the reason of staying infamous in our underground obscurity."

Rinoa took this in for a moment before opening her mouth to speak. "Does it hurt when you scream?" she said, asking the questioned that had been puzzling her for quite some time.

"That's not really a 'yes or no' question" Kane answered. "It really depends on the type of scream. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it actually feels good. There's more to my vocal technique than just screaming."

Rinoa nodded.

"Sometimes I screamed, sometimes I shrieked, sometimes I grunted and growled like a grizzly bear. Sometimes I gurgled and sometimes I simply used clean singing, you know what I mean?"

Rinoa's face was screwed up in confusion. "Not really, but I think I might have an idea of what you mean."

Kane laughed at this.

Before Rinoa had time to retort to Kane's laugh, she noticed the train station looming ever closer. Kane found a clean area of concrete in the shade that was in plain view of any incoming trains and sat down. Rinoa sat next to him.

"What are we waiting for?" she asked.

"The train" Kane answered, giving her absolutely no valuable information.

"I know that!" she said with a smile.

"Then why'd you ask?"

Rinoa looked at Kane and saw he was troubled. His face bore no grin, no sign of amusement. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing" answered Kane. "Well actually, there's something I really should tell you."

"What is it?"

"It's a little hard."

"Just tell me. I won't get mad or anything."

"…okay, here we go."

The screeching of airbrakes being slammed on revealed the conclusion that a train had arrived.

"The train's here" Kane said, stating the obvious. He stood up and began to walk towards the long metallic transit vehicle but stopped at Rinoa's protest.

He looked at her confused face. "Right, we don't have much time" he said. "Rinoa… I'm leaving."

"What about me?"

"You'll stay here."

"When will I see you again, you _are_ coming back, aren't you?"

Kane didn't answer.

"But you said I could stay with you!"

"I asked if you wanted to join the Forest Owls and you said 'yes.'"

"But I want to go with you."

"I was hoping you'd say that" Kane said "but for your own safety, I can't let you do that. Stay with the Owls, stay with Seifer."

"Kane!" she whined.

"Don't make a scene" Kane informed her. "I'm not doing this because I want to. Don't you think I'd like you to come along with me? That'd be great to say the least but… I don't want to hurt you. I can't trust myself."

"I don't care, what's important is that _I_ trust _you_. In the short time I've been with you, I've seen you kill so many people and yet I still trust you with my life, with my body. That's gotta mean something."

"Forget it; you're better off with someone closer your own age anyway. I'm sorry about all this, but do me a favor, okay?"

Rinoa nodded.

"Take care of Angelo. I trust her in your hands."

"All right" she agreed.

Kane took a few steps forward but then stopped. "There was something else I was going to do" he said. "But I don't know if I should."

"What is it, what are you going to do?"

"I know I shouldn't, but something inside is telling me to go for it, egging me on but something else is disgusted, repulsed, I don't know what to do."

"Kane..."

He shook his head. "Forgive me" he said.

Rinoa's eyes narrowed.

Kane stepped forward and placed his hand on Rinoa's shoulder, sending ice cold shivers down her spine. His face drew ever closer to hers. Rinoa began to feel anxious, she felt cold inside.

Kane's lips came into contact with Rinoa's and Kane's tongue, liberated from his control began to invade the young moist inside of her open mouth.

_Kane was on a large stage. He could hear the roaring of the crowd before him, but he could not see them. The bright lights blinded him; they kept the mob below out of sight. All he could see was a dark room._

_The deafening cries of the riotous moshing fans below were heightened by the rapid pounding of a drummer's blast beat. The drum solo was coming to a close. He needed something to finish off the show, some grand climax. His mind was blank._

_He looked beside him, into the eyes of the Sheik._

"_What?" she asked him. Her voice, directed away from the microphone in her hand was lost in the racket of the night._

_Kane smiled. "I got it" he said. His voice, just like hers; was much too quiet to be heard. He put his arms around the Sheik and held her close to him. He stole a kiss from her heavenly lips._

_Her entire body tensed up in futile resistance. She was probably loosing all respect for him right now. She'd most likely not ever speak to him again and he knew he shouldn't, but hey; he was enjoying it and so were the fans. Judging by the screaming emitted from what must've been every single person there. They were putting on a great show._

_Kane took a step back. The Sheik had an expression on her face as if to say she was unsure of what was happening and of what to do next._

_Kane put his arms around her again and picked her up, one arm supporting her back and one arm supporting her legs. "Hold up the mic" he said. His voice was unheard but the Sheik read his lips and knew what he meant._

_She held her microphone up so Kane could talk into it. "So, Did you all like that!?" he growled into the microphone, talking to the countless fans before him. "You wanna surf?" he asked the Sheik, talking into her ear._

"_What?" she asked._

"_You are the will of the Gods!" he growled into the microphone "I sacrifice unto thee... the body of the Sheik!" he said, shrieking the last part._

_He instructed the Sheik to drop the microphone and she did so. He threw her into the crowd; their waiting hands were raised into the air, ready to catch her falling body._

_The rhythmic drumming was beginning to slow and as soon as the Sheik's body touched the fingertips of the waiting hands, someone else on the stage began to play an earsplitting guitar riff._

_Kane took his own guitar and threw it into the crowd. He let them fight over it._

_He turned around to face the rest of his band. "Hey, keep this up! Increase the fucking tempo!" he said. They did so. "Yeah, that's it" he said. He let out a deafening roar before diving off the stage into the crowd._

Kane took a few steps backward. Rinoa stared at him, her eyes were unfocused. "What... what was..." she began to say.

"I'm sorry" Kane apologized, he closed his eyes. "I shouldn't have done that. The two of you are so similar, just like I suspected. I'm sorry" he apologized again. "I know I shouldn't have done that, but I had to see, to give it a chance. After all, I'm probably never going to see you again, so long... princess."

Having said this, he slowly walked toward the train. Just as he boarded, the door closed behind him.

Rinoa heard the train's breaks release. The driver was awaiting the 'all clear' signal. Rinoa looked down in thought. She had so much to think about but all these... ideas were buzzing around inside her head leaving her unable to say anything inside her head, she just had thoughts, as soon as she began to think about one idea, another consumed her interest.

The train was still there. Rinoa felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head and saw Seifer. "I thought you'd be here" he said. "So that's the train Kane got on?"

Rinoa nodded in response.

"Looks like I'm in time then."

"For what?" asked Rinoa.

"To pick you up, we didn't want to make our princess wait did we?" Seifer said with a smirk, using Kane's nickname for her.

"So where have you been all this time?" Rinoa asked ignoring the remark Seifer had made.

"Nowhere special" Seifer answered mysteriously "I was with the Owls. We were just making preparations. We've made room for you and Angelo so you'd better stay and like it because we've been working hard."

Rinoa looked away in thought.

"Hey, lighten up. I was just joking. What's wrong, you been hanging out with Kane too much or something?"

"Maybe I have" Rinoa answered.

"Well, don't worry about it. With my help, soon you would've forgotten all about that has-been head banger." He stopped talking, thinking back to the conversation he had with Kane.

_Back in the bar with Kane, their conversation had come to rest upon the fate of Rinoa. "So, what do you think of her?" Kane had asked him._

"_I don't know, I guess she's alright" he answered._

"_Does she live up to your standards?"_

"_Yeah, what about you?" he asked._

"_You already know the answer to that, Seifer."_

"_What's with the questionnaire? Are you setting up a dating service?" Seifer asked with some humorous scorn._

"_I'm gonna leave. I have to get back to the Forest Chocobos."_

"_Oh, I get it. Don't you like me Kane, what're you gonna go supervise 'Mister Serious' for?"_

"_Leave the guy alone Seifer. You two might even get along if you give 'im a break."_

"_Yeah, like that's gonna happen" Seifer laughed._

"_I'm serious" Kane said sternly. "But I can see what you mean. He's quite stressed. I'd worry about him if I didn't already have enough to deal with. I just know someone's going to push him too far one day and you'd better just hope you're not nearby when that happens."_

"_Yeah right, I'm not afraid. I'd fight him anywhere. He doesn't scare anyone."_

"_Always be careful around guys like that, Seifer. You never know, he might just surprise you."_

"_Yeah yeah, I know. You have to watch the quiet ones."_

"_He's not just quiet. I took the time to get to know him. He's really not so bad and besides, if you're really serious about that dream of yours, you're gonna need some close allies you can trust."_

"_But I don't need someone like that tagging along."_

"_Seifer, I've seen him fight. He's pretty impressive. Anyway, I want you to look after Rinoa until she finds her place._

"_So she's staying in Timber then?"_

"_I'm not sure; I haven't actually asked her yet."_

"_Why don't you take her with you?" asked Seifer, he turned to look at Rinoa._

_Kane saw this and also looked over at Rinoa. After a short period of time, they both looked back. "I don't know... I've been thinking of doing that but..."_

"_But what, you like her; she's getting to like you, what's the problem?"_

"_Her age, for one" said Kane "If seen as a couple, even twelve years ago when I was in my young party-hard 'who gives a fuck' state of mind we would be frowned upon."_

"_Twelve years ago you wouldn't have cared. Why should you now? It's not like you to give a shit about what everyone else thinks."_

"_And it's not like you to pass someone like Rinoa onto me. What's the deal Seifer, isn't she good enough for you?"_

"_It's not that... alright then; you had your chance, now it's mine. Sure, I'll take care of her for you."_

"_Great, thanks... now get out of here and tell the Owls. I'll worry about Rinoa. Meet us at the station later."_

"_Where are you going, up near the hills?"_

_Kane nodded._

_After a pause, Seifer stood up. "I'll leave you alone then." He turned around and left._

"Come on then" Seifer said. "Come and see the room we set up for you and the dog. I think you'll like it. One of the Forest owls designed it. I don't know if you know him but Zone decorated it all... so I hope you like pink."

"Pink? You're kidding right?" Rinoa asked.

"Don't tell me you hate it already. You haven't even seen it yet. I'll have to tell Zone" Seifer said, smirking all the while. "He was going on saying all girls love pink... not that _he_ would know of course."

Rinoa looked strait forward just in time to see the train departing. It began pulling away from the platform, accelerating faster every second. She imagined herself running after the train like a young soldier's wife in an old war movie.

Seifer made a few smart comments and Rinoa tried to smile at these but in authenticity, she wasn't really listening. She was too busy watching the train leaving the station. The engine was pulling its carriages away from her, out of her reach and with them; it was taking Kane out of her life forever.

Author's notes: **So there you have it. Kane is gone. Any of you people out there who didn't like him because you hate Heavy Metal, you must be so happy. All of you who liked him, I'm sorry.**

**All of you who like high school based fics are gonna be pleased with what I have coming up next. The next few chapters are going to follow Squall's story as he attempts the SeeD exam. I have no idea when the next chapter is going to be up so it could be a while. Also, I'm still in mental planning of my unnamed high school fanfic. For more details, check out my profile page.**

**Thanks,**

**Morbid 333**

**PS. If I sound like a whiny bitch on my profile page, try to ignore that. I was really feeling like shit the night I wrote that.**


	8. Chapter VIII The New Girl

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era:**

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Author's Notes:**

It may have been a while since my last update (sorry about that) but I've had some problems, including being sick strait after uploading the last chapter (yeah, I was sick for my birthday.) and I've had some computer problems, including my keyboard loosing its ability to work. Despite this, I'm back and still writing, despite the lack of reviews (at the time of writing this, I had only one and I thank you for taking the time to write it, freestyler91. Also, I've been writing a crossover fic, it is unnamed so for the moment is entitled 'untitled high school crossover' this title may be misleading so I added 'ffanime' to the end. It is located in the miscellaneous crossover category (misc/xovers). It is rated M but since it is in a category that may be full of high school musical/jonas shit crossovers and the like, I have received 0 hits. Come on, check it out for me. What's the point if no one is reading it? If you're still with me, I apologize for the excessive author's notes and sincerely hope you enjoy the chapter (no mater how short it may be.)

**Chapter VIII – The New Girl**

_Peaceful Era 17, July 6__th__, 0900_

Squall was alone. Seifer had left him. Fortunately, No one had seen his humiliating defeat, served to him by Seifer. On the other hand, there were no witnesses to see Seifer's cheap underhanded tactics.

Squall couldn't know how long he had been alone in that classroom with its overly formal glossy white walls and ceiling and large monitor at the front. The varnished instructor's desk stood at the front of the room, leering towards the students desks like the scowling face of a minister silently judging the alternative lifestyle choices of the so-called sinners sitting in the pews in a church.

Squall had been bent over from the pain of Seifer's attack. Of course he had lost to Seifer, he always did. He'd never beat him in a fight; he knew it and it made him feel so damn pathetic.

He stood up strait and flinched from a sharp sensation he was feeling throughout his entire nervous system. He could handle constant pain, he could ignore that easily. His real problem was with the short bursts of stabbing sensations. He had not yet learned to control these.

Squall cursed Seifer's name in his head as he straitened his back and took a few steps forward. Another surge of pain rushed over him like a jolt of lightning running down a metallic pole.

He lost his balance and put out his arms out to stop himself from falling. In doing so, he landed hard, putting his entire wait on his hands which were on the wall. Seifer's attack may not have lasted long, but he had hit Squall hard enough to tenderize his Abdomen.

Squall closed his eyes in thought of the impending bruising. There was no way it would be bad enough to bother the doctor with, but it may leave him soft and sore for a while. A horrid thought struck him like a drunken smith striking an anvil.

What about the SeeD exam, Will I have recovered by then? he thought to himself, although he already felt sure of the answer. With luck, he would be able to fight against the physical tortures and force himself to train and pass the practical units but even so, would he be able to handle the final test? Squall could only hope that his body would have healed enough by then.

Squall gritted his teeth once more and pushed against the wall with his arms. Then, holding them out until he regained his balance, he began to walk back to his dormitory, all the while promising himself that he would get even with Seifer.

Squall felt that he had no control over these events and now, if Seifer wanted to be rivals; then so be it.

The silver plated classroom door opened automatically when Squall approached it. He hobbled down the long hallway like a back-broken old man relying on his Cane for support, only he was forced to rely on his own two legs to get him safely back to his dormitory where he could lock the door, be disturbed by no one and peacefully rest for a good long while.

He finally reached the three-way junction in the centre of the hallway. In the middle of this junction on the floor, was a large circle on the painted cement floor. Within this circle was Garden's insignia, a black hand armed with a gun crossed with a white hand armed with a sword, a derivative of the ancient 'yin-yang' symbol.

The instant squall stepped foot upon this symbol, he heard an unfamiliar voice.

"I'm late, I'm late" it said, the sound was getting louder as this mystery person got closer. The high-pitched girl's voice seemed rushed and full of panic. Squall continued walking and soon heard hurried footsteps coming towards him.

"Late-late-late!" the voice said, getting louder and louder all the time. As he was preparing to turn the corner into the adjacent corridor leading towards the elevator, be began feeling sorry for––

_Bam_, Squall collided with the body of a girl he didn't recognize. She must have been running down the corridor at full speed because the collision knocked Squall backward and sent the girl falling backward to the ground.

The impact had been hard on Squall's tender body so it took a while for him to overcome the sting. When he had recovered, he was able to look over at the other casualty. Seeing her, he noticed her injuries were not so severe. He judged that she would bare no bruise.

Squall lost control of his gaze and it wandered of its own free will over the girl's appearance. She wore Garden's female Cadet's uniform consisting of a dark blue short-sleeved undershirt and skirt however she seemed to be lacking the blazer.

Her thick auburn hair was just short of shoulder-length and curled up slightly, following the natural curve of her shoulders. She looked up and her eyes met with Squall's. She held the gaze for a while before winking and smiling.

She jumped up to her feet while saying "There."

Squall continued staring, his eyes fixated on this stranger.

"Tee hee, I'm fine" she said, answering Squall's unasked question. "Oh, hey..." she said with less confidence. "Did you just come from one of the classrooms?"

Squall nodded in response to the stupid question.

"Is... registration over?"

Squall nodded again but he was not prepared for what was coming next.

"Oh no!" she cried "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late-late-late!"

This girl seemed almost as energetic as Zell and as annoying as that could be, he felt sorry for her. Squall feeling sorry for someone was not a regular occurrence but this cadet seemed different.

"Hey, this place is _so_ much bigger than my old Garden. Do you think you could show me around?"

Squall shook his head. "I'm not the best person to do that."

The girl lost the sparkle from her eyes and her smile became a pout. "Pretty please" she moaned in a slow sulky tone.

"Sorry" Squall said apologetically and quietly.

"Aw, that's' too bad." the girl complained. She turned around and slowly and sulkily departed back towards the elevator.

Squall stood there, watching her walk away until she faded out of sight. She was the type of girl who could drive a person insane. To describe her and sum her up in one single word, it would have to be 'cute.'

Finally, Squall began to walk towards the elevator.

At the end of the corridor, was a bridge connecting it to the elevator. This bridge was made of steel with sides about two hundred millimeters high to stop people from accidently walking off and falling to their death.

When at last Squall reached this bridge, He noticed two other cadets sitting with their backs to the safety board sides on his right. On his left, he noticed another cadet. This cadet mostly kept to himself. Squall had nothing against this cadet because the two never bothered each other.

Walking forward, it wasn't until Squall was near the elevator that he noticed a fourth cadet. It was the girl he had run into only minutes earlier. She was now blocking his way down via the elevator.

"Oh, hi" she said when she realized who was standing behind her. "I'm... lost again. I know you're busy but could you at least tell me how to get to the infirmary? I have to see the doctor about my starter kit."

Squall looked around at the other cadets.

"These guys won't tell me anything, cheap asses!" she said, directing the insult at the cadets.

"Not unless you can beat us in a card game." One of the cadets on the right taunted.

"But I already told you! I don't have any cards. I left them at my old Garden."

"Here then!" the cadet said, tossing a small 'starter deck' of cards. A starter deck was basically just seven to ten cards with weak monsters printed on them. An avid card player would know that these were all level one monster cards, Squall however had no interest in this game, this craze, this ever-lasting fad that had consumed the world like a cancer. He had no need to take part in this pointless distraction.

The seven cards fluttered down gently to land on the bridge. The girl quickly dived on these cards and examined them as though they were made of gold. She flicked through the cards and her jaw instantly dropped. "I can't win with these!" she said angrily.

"I... I guess I can show you the directory in the GF Lobby" Squall said.

A smile instantly grew on the girl's face. "Really, Thanks!"

Squall nodded and pushed the button to call the elevator car. It arrived momentarily with a "ding" and Squall walked in, followed by the girl and pressed the button imprinted with a 'G'.

The doors closed and the elevator car swiftly began its speedy descent to the Ground Floor.

The elevator slowed to a halt and with another ding, the glass doors slid open.

"There it is" Squall said as they stepped out and walked down the stairs.

Having pointed out the large object in the center of the lobby, Squall led the girl down the stairs and strait for the large square-shaped metallic object standing out in the middle of the floor.

They approached it and walked around so they could use it. This thing, the Directory, was simply at first glance a large sign, a map of the ground floor. After careful examination, it could be seen that the glass over the map was really an electronic monitor.

Squall touched the monitor with his finger and the map cleared. A new page was now showing. In the centre of the screen was the Garden insignia; above this was an empty dialogue box. To the left of the image of the insignia was a list of menu items.

The index finger of Squall's right hand hit the empty dialogue box and the image of a typewriter keyboard appeared over the directory's home page. Over the keyboard, a message appeared. "Welcome to Balamb Garden Directory; Please input your query."

Below this message was an on-screen push-button labeled 'OK'. Squall pushed this button and then quickly began pushing buttons on the virtual Keyboard, typing something.

Squall hit 'enter' and suddenly the keyboard disappeared to show the home page once more. This was soon covered with a new page.

"Student Directory – Enter name" appeared on the screen. The keyboard returned into view. Squall began typing again. His right hand moved back and forth over the virtual keyboard. 'D-i-n-c-h-t' he typed.

A new message appeared on the monitor.

'Thank you

...now searching

...search complete'

A list appeared on the monitor.

'Results:

SeeD, Staff and Students with the name 'Dincht' – 1 match found

Dincht, Zell'

Squall pressed his finger on Zell's name and a new page appeared. At the top left corner was a photograph of Zell's face and in the centre was a list of his details. At the bottom of the page there was a list of options.

Squall turned to the girl who was now standing on his left. "This is the student directory" he explained "just one of the features of the directory."

"Umm, Excuse me... I have a question" the girl asked.

"What?" Squall asked her in a softer tone than he normally used. After all, she _was_ new.

"How exactly do you _use_ this anyway?"

"...It takes some getting used to, but if you play around with it, in time you can find all kinds of information... but be careful. It is an expensive piece of equipment; not a toy."

"Right" the girl answered "go on, continue. I'm listening."

"You can find all sorts of information using this machine, even your timetable if you've lost and forgotten it." Squall pushed one of the virtual on-screen buttons for one of the options.

Zell's timetable for the next seven days instantly appeared on the monitor. It showed that he was doing the exact same as Squall, taking the same classes and trying to pass the same tests and observations. Everyone still taking classes at Garden this month did these things and they all had the same goal.

Everyone is doing the exact same thing, Squall thought... trying to become a SeeD.

"Hey, are you taking the SeeD exam?"

Squall nodded.

"Hey, me too!" the girl said excitedly. "I've already finished my training and I've passed everything."

Squall looked at her.

"I got an eighty percent average."

"You passed... everything?"

"Yeah, I'm a new student. I just transferred here from Trabia and back there, we were far ahead so we did our training early and got an extra month's holiday. I could've stayed there with all my old friends but I wanted to come here and get to know everyone, you know? And make new friends."

Squall pressed another menu button and was returned to the home page. He brought up the keyboard again to search the directory. He pressed four on-screen keys, 'm-a-p-Enter'.

A list of maps came up on the screen. Squall picked the map for the ground floor hall. A basic diagram of Balamb Garden's Ground floor showed up on the monitor.

"As you may have already figured out, Balamb Garden is a pretty big place and it's easy to get lost, especially if you don't know your way around so it's best to find where you need to go and look it up here."

To explain this, Squall pressed his finger to the north-most push-button and a page of information about the Dormitory came up on the screen.

"That's basically it" Squall said. "...unless you want a brief explanation of each area."

The girl nodded, smiling.

"Fine..." Squall said in a bored voice. "First, in the north are the dormitories. This is where most people stay. Not many students commute to _this_ Garden."

"Yeah, I'm in the dorms too, although I don't know what room I'm in or who I'll be sharing with. People have been wishing me luck, I wonder why. So who's your roommate?"

"I... I haven't shared a room in a long time."

"Really," the girl asked "why not?"

"Let's... lets just continue."

"Okay" the girl said innocently.

"West of the Dormitory is the Cafeteria. Students go there for food, drink and to socialize. It's also a good place if you want to play cards." He waited for a response. When he received none, he continued.

"East of the dormitory" he continued "is the car park. Some senior members of SeeD have permission to keep their cars in there, if they have one. Also, the Garden car is kept there. We usually use _that_ if a mission comes up."

"Can you drive?"

Squall nodded "hmm, driving a variety of vehicles is an essential skill for a SeeD. At Balamb Garden, we learn to drive below the legal age so when we graduate, we already have that skill under our belt."

"I should have figured it would be the same in both Balamb and Trabia."

"In the west is the Quad and in the east is the Training Center. Do you need anymore information than that?"

"No, that's pretty basic but what's in the Training Center?"

To answer this, Squall pressed the push-button to go back to the map, then to the page with information on the Training Center. A picture of a large mutant-bulb appeared on screen. This bulb looked like an overgrown carnivorous plant with stems extending to smaller bulbs on the plant's left and right.

"The Training Center is like a humid jungle but it's built into Garden. In this jungle, the monsters are free to run around, breed and fight; just like in the wild. This is so Cadets can get a realistic feel for actual combat."

Squall heard a loud gulping sound as it was emitted from the throat of the girl next to him. "The monsters roam _free_, are you... serious?"

"I never joke about training" Squall told her. "If you're not careful, you could get yourself killed so just watch yourself, okay."

"...okay."

"The faculty say you should always train in pairs and never enter that area alone although I train alone all the time."

"Why?"

"To put it simply, I don't get along with my training partner. In the Training Center, at the moment there is only one breed of monster. It is a plant-type called a Grat. Do you see the hard bulb-like arms on the picture?"

"Yes."

"Those are its primary weapons. It can also bite, drain blood, spit acid and release gas."

"Sounds like a nightmare."

"That's why they call it a monster... but even so, Grats are easy enough to kill. Sever their roots and stems, impale them or set them on fire and they're as good as dead. They may be weak but they make good live combat practice. Also, they are a good source of silence and sleep magic so be sure visit the Training center before a mission if your stock of green-type Para-magic is running low."

"Okay, got it. Next?"

"The first exit east from here is the Library. Students go there to check out books and quietly read. You can go to the reference section to study if you want but the terminals in the classrooms are more efficient. Most of the classrooms are upstairs on floors one and two."

"Yep, I remember the classrooms."

"The first exit west from here is the Infirmary."

"Question!" the girl interrupted. "What's the doctor's name?"

"Doctor Kadawaki" Squall answered. "She's a good doctor and can treat most injuries and also knows a lot about psychology so quite a few students turn to her for advice. Finally, south of here is the front gate; the main entrance and exit to the Garden, but I'm sure you must have known about that one."

"Yep, I remember that one as well."

"So if that's all..."

"Wait a minute, I have another question."

"What?"

"Where's the headmasters office?"

"It's on the third floor but that's out of bounds. You need special permission to get in."

"Oh, right and what's the headmaster's name?"

"Headmaster Cid Kramer" Squall told her.

"Alright, thanks. I guess I'll be heading to the Infirmary to talk to the Doctor, then I might take a walk. Hopefully I won't get lost again. Oh and by the way, Good luck for the SeeD exam."

Squall nodded.

"Good luck for the both of us huh?"

Squall quietly thanked her and watched her leave as she walked away in the direction of the infirmary. He touched his finger to the Directory's monitor and the pages disappeared one by one, leaving only the home page.

Squall walked out of the lobby, following the girl's route down the circular hall around the elevator shaft. He followed the hall until he got to the Dormitory. He stepped into the Dorm elevator and punched in the code for his Dorm-room, '360902'.

Finally Squall arrived in his Dorm room. He walked up to the steel door with a white 'B' painted on it. To the right of this door was an electronic card-swipe locking mechanism. Squall pulled out his wallet and took out his Balamb Garden Cadet ID card, which he swiped to get the door open. He placed the card back in his wallet, put that in his pocket and stepped into his room.

The door closed behind him. He didn't bother to lock it; no one ever bothered him up here anyway. No one even knew which Dorm was his, did they?

He walked over to his bed and lay down. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander. Maybe with a little luck he could relax and get some rest. He had a hard month ahead of him. Maybe with a little luck he could get some sleep.

- - -

**Yeah, Squall has met the new girl. I know in the game this happens later, but I wanted the two to know each other a little better. I know it's not a great chapter, it was really a rush job. I wrote this in about two or three days. Anyway, take a look at my other story in the misc crossovers category, tell me what you think of it and if you can think of a good name, let me know. Sorry for spamming my own story. I don't know when the next chapter will be up so it could be a while.**


	9. Chapter IX Dawn of a new Headache

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era:**  
Squall Leonheart never wanted to be a hero but when fate plunges him into battle with the leader of an entire nation, he must face the emotions he has shunned and rely on the friends he never wanted... but is Galbadia's president really the true threat to the world, or is there something sinister behind the secret meetings he has been holding with his newly appointed peace ambassador? **Squall/Rinoa Seifer/Rinoa Squall/Selphie**

**Rated M for offensive language, adult themes, drug use, abuse**

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Chapter IX – Dawn of a new headache**

_Peaceful Era 16, July 23, 1830_

_Seifer made a few smart comments and Rinoa tried to smile at these but in authenticity, she wasn't really listening. She was too busy watching the train leaving the station. The engine was pulling its carriages away from her, out of her reach and with them; it was taking Kane out of her life forever._

"So, he's really gone" Rinoa said. She had been walking with Seifer in Timber for no more than a few minutes but she had already run the events of the day through her mind at least half a dozen times.

"Yep" Seifer answered in a bored tone. A grin made its way onto his face. "You were really beginning to like him, weren't you?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"You did! You feel bad that he's gone."

"Kind of, but I'll get over it."

Seifer patted his empty pockets. "Fuck!"

"What is it?" Rinoa asked with concern.

"Oh, never mind."

"Come on."

"I need a smoke, that's all."

"Oh, are you all out?"

"No. Kane took 'em, bastard."

"Kane told me you are a student of Balamb Garden."

"Yeah, so?" asked Seifer impatiently.

"Are you a SeeD?"

"No... But I'm gonna be."

"Don't they teach you strength of will at garden?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I thought SeeDs could fight addiction, I thought they didn't smoke or drink?"

"First of all, the plural is SeeD; not SeeDs... and secondly; don't lecture me. I'm older than you."

"Only by about a year!" the raven-haired girl protested.

Seifer laughed. "I see you're practicing your preaching skills for motherhood." Seifer smiled a sly smile. "So, when d'you think you'll be ready?"

"Shut up!" Rinoa said, playfully punching Seifer on the shoulder.

Rinoa didn't feel annoyed with Seifer, neither did she feel sad. She felt like she could really let loose and have fun around Seifer.

Kane had been like her protector although Rinoa got the feeling he was always on edge. It was as though he was afraid to relax around her, afraid of his own emotions in case he could not contain them because she reminded him of his... his 'Sheik.'

"Rinoa?" asked Seifer.

"...What?" Rinoa asked, coming out of a daze.

"You were thinking about Kane again, weren't you?"

"How did you know?"

"The smile faded from your face. If this is going to happen every time you think of him, maybe you should just forget him. I think I like you better when you're happy."

"That makes two of us" Rinoa smiled. "Treat me right and I might just stay happy."

Rinoa was feeling things just by talking with Seifer that she had never felt before. Just by being there, Seifer was making her happy. Something Kane could never do.

"But he sure knows how to say goodbye" she said out loud.

"What?"

Rinoa blushed slightly. "Oh, never mind."

"So, Rinoa; what are you going to do?" asked Seifer. He was being serious.

"What will I do?" Rinoa repeated.

"Where are you going to go?"

Rinoa's eyes filled with worry. "I don't know; I can't really go back to Galbadia, can I? I don't want to but I might just have to."

"Would you consider joining the Owls?"

"I don't know, I talked about it with Kane a little... but I'm not really sure if I can commit to that..."

"Then how about this, I'm staying with the owls until the end of the month. Hang out with me until then, stay with the Owls, and then decide. How does that sound?"

Rinoa nodded. "I could do that." Rinoa was happy to do anything to delay a difficult decision like this, anything to delay the prospect of being forced to move back in to that mansion and all that it represented.

They passed the town center and spotted a street merchant. "Wait here" Seifer instructed her. Rinoa did what she was told and found a wall to wait by. It happened to be the wall of the Timber Hotel.

Seifer walked toward the merchant to make a purchase.

Rinoa turned her head to her left, towards the direction of the Hotel's entrance. The right hand side of the glass double-doors opened and out stepped a young woman. She seemed to be in her late twenties. She wore her brunette hair in a high ponytail. She looked over to Rinoa and smiled.

The Woman let the door swing closed behind her. She walked around and stood to the right of Rinoa.

Rinoa greeted the woman, who smiled in response. Rinoa noticed the uniform that the woman was wearing. "So you work at the Hotel?"

The woman shook her head then smiling, she said "I _own_ the Hotel."

"Oh, sorry miss..."

"Call me Franchesca."

"Oh, okay. My name's Rinoa."

"So you know Kane, don't you?"

Rinoa was surprised at the mention of Kane's name. "You know Kane as well?"

Franchesca nodded.

"How?"

Franchesca stopped smiling and a tinge of pink made its way onto her cheeks. "Well, that's kind of hard to say... especially since I don't really know how he felt about me."

"Oh, I get it."

"I've seen you walking around with Kane. I guess he must've moved on to you. I won't hold it against you but you seem a little young for him, then again people once said that about me."

"...How old is he?"

"I don't know, I never really asked him but I wish I had. Maybe he could've shared with me his anti-aging secrets."

"No, I've seen him fight. He moves so fast, he can't be too old."

"His body has stayed young far beyond his time but he must be at least forty."

"...Forty!?" asked Rinoa in disbelief.

"Maybe older... Anyway, about you and him..."

"No, it's not what you think. We never went that far... and we never will."

"Where is he now?"

"I don't know" Rinoa answered. "He left earlier today."

"He never said anything to me. I guess that explains how he felt. He never really cared."

"Don't judge him harshly for it, he has a low opinion of himself but he probably thought of you as a higher being than himself. I don't know why he never came to see you; maybe he didn't want to disturb you. Who knows, he may come back to see you."

"Maybe, I don't know. He was never much of a socializer. It's like he could never relax around me... Anyway, if you ever need a place to stay, feel free to come in to the Hotel."

"Thanks anyway but I don't really have any money at the moment."

"Don't worry about it, It's my hotel; I own it and my friends can spend a free night or two whenever they want. Just come in and ask for Fran."

"Fran, is that you?"

"Yeah, that's what all my employees and guests call me; Franchesca, Fran for short."

Rinoa saw that Seifer was walking towards her. "Good timing" she said to herself.

"Is he with you?" Franchesca asked.

"Yeah, I'm staying with him and the Forest Owls."

"I see."

"Thanks Fran, for the talk _and_ the offer. I'll come back and talk to you later. I may even need to take you up on your offer."

"You're welcome to. I'll be glad to see you again. Well, I'm heading off home so I guess I'll be going. I'll see you around."

Rinoa nodded "yeah, you too."

With that, Franchesca left and passed by Seifer who was approaching. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Alright" Rinoa answered and they departed to the hiding place of the Forest Owls mobile base. They followed the railway line deep into dark forest seclusion.

* * *

_Peaceful Era 17, July 6__th__, 1200_

Squall had been alone in the entrance room of his Dormitory for over an hour. He sat at the terminal, studying his timetable. He had only a month to pass all compulsory units, both practical and theory necessary to become a SeeD.

His eyes drifted to the top of the page and widened when he saw who his instructor would be.

"Instructor: #14, Trepe, Quistis"

Quistis Trepe, she was the youngest of all Balamb Garden's instructors. She had been his instructor before; she had taken him for his home-room class in the mornings during the previous semester. Squall had never seen her fight but it was a well-known rumor that her weapon of choice was the whip. She even had her own obsessive, almost-oppressive cult-like fan base within the students of Garden.

Quistis Trepe had blonde hair, blue eyes, a young body, was it any wonder the vast majority of her male student body had failed last semester? Pools of drool made handwritten notes incomprehensible to any eye.

Quistis was only eighteen and in her short time as instructor, her capabilities had been called into question more than once. _Great_, thought Squall. _I'll be stuck in a class with her____teaching me, surrounded by her groupies. That's just what I need._

On Squall's left was the desk he used to study. Behind him was the elevator to exit the dormitories. In front of him were the two doors to the two Dorm rooms, the sleeping quarters for two.

Squall had been alone in this separate Double-Dorm for the last two years but now it seemed the administration had decided to stick someone in with him– poor someone.

Squall logged off and powered down his terminal. He stood up and walked towards the two rooms. On the right was his room. On the left, the door was unlocked and inside the room there were various boxes. On the bed was a stack of textbooks and various other essential supplies for a life of study.

Hanging over the bed on coat-hangers were two complete spare female-cadet uniforms. In the open wardrobe there were hanging up, various skirts, dresses, T-shirts and other items of outer-clothing.

Beside this wardrobe there was what Squall suspected to be an underwear draw. Whoever it was that had been assigned to this room, they must have trusted Squall enough to leave their door open. (Or maybe they were unaware of the fact that Squall would be here, maybe they thought they would have this Dorm all to themselves, who knows.)

Squall did not know who now called this room theirs but nevertheless, they had enough trust to leave their door open and unlocked. Squall decided he would return their trust and respect them enough to not go rifling through their draws. After all, he was not Seifer.

Squall turned around and walked into his own room which was exceptionally neat and tidy. He went over to his bed-side table and picked up an item. This item was simply two belts crossed and attached to an oddly shaped scabbard.

He carefully picked up this item and placed it on the floor. He stepped into it with both legs and pulled it up to his waist. He buckled the belts tightly enough that they would not slip but not so tight that they restricted his movement.

Leaning at a forty-five degree angle at the foot of his bed was a large black tin case. On the front of this case was an emblem of a lion. Squall had a ring and a necklace with the same emblem. He lifted the tin case (and it was quite heavy) onto his bed and opened it.

Inside this case there was an odd weapon, almost like a large misshapen four feet long broadsword but with a pistol grip in place of a hilt, as though a smith had grafted a gun to the blade of a sword.

This weapon was known as a gunblade, a gun-sword weapon. The gunblade was extremely difficult to master, taking years of training to use safely. The traditional design of this weapon is the Revolver. Squall's model was a custom-made Revolver Gunblade.

Technically, the weapon belonged to Garden but should he pass the exam and become a SeeD; the weapon would be given to him as a graduation gift. Such was Garden's rule.

The gunblade was armed with oversized Brass shells loaded with charges. Originally, each shell was loaded with a single charge each but modern technology had allowed smaller charges with greater potency, meaning that each shell contained six charges.

The Revolver held six shells meaning a gunblader could charge thirty six times in a single battle without needing to reload. For the reason of simplicity, these shells were known simply as bullets.

Squall pulled out his Gunblade and unlocked the ammunition cylinder. He removed it. It was a circular steel object. Squall loaded one bullet into each of the six chambers, replaced the cylinder and locked it in place.

Squall examined the weapon and ensured the safety catch was on before sheathing it. He took a pouch of bullets and attached it to his belt. He closed the case, left the room and locked the door.

* * *

_Peaceful Era 16, July 23, 1830_

Safe in the sanctuary of the Forest Owls base, Rinoa could finally rest. At last she could say she was among friends again. They had even gone through all the trouble of clearing out and decorating a room for her to stay in.

Kane had given Angelo to the Forest Owls but had put Rinoa in charge of her.

"Alright, off you go" Seifer told her. He had led her here and was now standing behind her. "Strait up that hallway, take the last door on the left."

Rinoa walked strait forward. On her right was a door, an exit of the train. Strait ahead of her was a long hallway. She walked to the end of this hallway and entered her new room by walking under the arch in the wall.

The pink abomination of a room hit her in the face like a solid brick.

"Note to self" Seifer remarked as he appeared through the arch. "Don't come up this way while suffering the hangover effect."

"Yeah, I'll have to remember that one" Rinoa commented.

"Be sure to thank Watts and Zone for this room" Seifer joked "and be sure to tell them _exactly_ how you feel about it. I need a good laugh."

"Wait on a minute" Rinoa said. "I've been on my feet pretty much all day. I need to sit down for a while." She approached a fold-out couch in the corner. She turned around and sat down on the couch and stretched out her legs in front of her.

At this, Angelo came running over to smell Rinoa's legs. The animal's nose moved down to Rinoa's feet. Angelo took the lace of Rinoa's shoe in her mouth and pulled.

"Hey! What are you...?" Rinoa said to the dog and then, after realizing what it was doing she added "that's a neat trick. Where did you learn that?"

Both of Rinoa's shoes were now untied, waiting to be removed.

"Kane must've trained her strictly. He must've taught her to do things like that."

"I wonder what else she can do."

"I don't know, there'll be more tricks than that one but I dunno what. I guess you'll just have to find out on accident.

* * *

_Peaceful Era 17, July 6__th__, 1230_

Squall walked through the hall heading in an eastward direction. He was walking towards the Training Centre armed with his Gunblade. It was a peaceful quiet day in Garden. Most of the students had gone home for their month's break; leaving only SeeD, candidates and staff at the Garden.

The only sound Squall heard was the tranquil splashing of the Balamb Fish water fountain surrounding the main elevator. The sound soothed him but this was soon interrupted by the sound of oncoming footsteps.

Walking in the opposite direction, heading for him was a girl wearing the Cadet's uniform. Squall looked strait ahead focusing on his destination and not looking at the girl.

"Hey, it's you" the girl said. Looking at her, Squall realized that she was the girl he had met earlier that same day. "You're the guy who showed me around before, right? Thanks. I don't get so lost anymore."

"It was nothing. Don't worry about it" Squall replied.

"Okay, if you say so... but still, thanks... hey, I never caught your name. What is it?"

"It's... its Squall."

"Squall, that's your name?"

Squall glared at her, giving her one of his threatening looks that usually told others to back off.

"Whoa, not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just... it's not a normal name."

"Whatever" Squall said, he walked right past her on his way to the Training Centre.

"Hey! Wait up, I'm Selphie. Maybe I'll see you around."

"Maybe" Squall told her.

"Really?" the girl asked excitedly.

"It's a big Garden, but not that big. Who knows, we're bound to run into each other at some point in the future."

"Oh, right. I guess I'll see you around then."

Squall nodded and continued walking towards the Training Centre. When he got there, he felt the eerie atmosphere as the room made the transition from a formal hallway to a humid jungle-like forest.

Squall kept walking and eventually reached an electric fence. The fence was rounded in a large circle that engulfed most of the forest. Right in front of Squall was a lever. There were two large reinforced steel doors, one to the left and one over on the right. Behind each of these doors was another lever.

Squall pulled the lever. The doors and fence were now safe to touch. He walked over to the door on the right, quickly opened it and entered the Monster's Lair.

"_From the time a lever is pulled, the circuit is broken and it is safe to enter and leave for exactly two minutes. After two minutes, the lever snaps back up, the circuit is complete and anyone in contact with the fence receives a brutal four thousand volts of electricity."_

Squall could remember his instructor warning him of this at the start of every semester. 'You'd need to be pretty a pretty slow cripple to take two minutes to open a door though.'

Seifer had been the first to say this and for once, Squall agreed with him. Squall didn't see himself ever taking more than a minute to enter the Lair but he understood the need for safety precautions. Sometimes the immature junior classmen could stand idly by chatting and not notice the time fly by.

Once inside, Squall simply followed the trail. Craning his neck upward, he could see the blue sky with few clouds soiling its clarity. The Training Centre was the closest anyone could get to a rainforest in a room (not including conservatories.)

There was no roof so training students had to deal with the effects of the weather. This was especially true for aspiring sharpshooters and archers. The rain and the wind could get you in here, especially in the cold winter months.

The only way to make combat training more realistic than it was in here would be to fight in a war or hunt down monsters in the wild. There really was nothing better than the Balamb Garden Training Center to simulate the _heat_ of battle.

The ground was a dirty russet and in the distance, a wooden plank-bridge was the only way across a lake.

This lake's only clear purpose was to fish and confront water creatures although Squall had never seen anything alive in that water. He didn't even know if it was salt-water or fresh-water.

He trod carefully over the wooden planks, when he reached the other side he opened the utility pouch on his belt. He pulled out three items, two earplugs and a sonic grenade. He fitted the earplugs in his ears for protection and pulled the pin from the grenade.

He tossed the sonic grenade aside. After a few seconds, a deafeningly shrill sound was emitted from the grenade. This sound was powerful enough that it could stun all creatures in the immediate area and draw all nearby creatures out of its danger range.

Soon enough, the sound began to die down. When it had hushed a little, Squall figured it was safe to remove his earplugs. He placed them back in his utility pouch so they did not interfere with his fighting ability.

Sure enough, eventually Squall could hear creaking sounds and soon he saw the foul plant-type creatures approaching, hissing obscenities in their own unintelligible language.

Squall drew his Gunblade and stood in a battle-ready stance as the plants slowly drew ever closer. A large hardened bulb came swinging down over Squall. Quickly and with ninja-like reflexes he swung his blade and sliced strait through the stem connecting the bulb to the rest of the plant.

A shrill cry echoed throughout Squall's eardrums. The fiendish plant seemed to be screaming. Did monsters feel pain? Squall guessed that they must, although his instructors believed that they didn't. 'Monsters don't have feelings; they are a pest that must be eradicated, just like every enemy that you may face. They are a plague unto themselves. By killing them, you are doing them a favor.'

Squall had conflicting feelings on the subject but as long as the ugly creatures continued to show up, Squall would continue to fight. He needed the practice and he wouldn't stop training until he could wipe the smug smirk off Seifer's face.

Squall sliced through the monster's other stem, leaving it with no kind of blunt weapon to barrage him with. Unfortunately, the putrid thing had its most terrible weapon hidden deep within itself. The monster lifted a third stem, connected to a large leaf that hid it's 'face' in seclusion.

Another slice and the leaf fell to the ground. Squall evaded the gastric juices the plant was projectile-vomiting. Three more acid spits later and Squall's Gunblade sliced through the plant's remaining stems and roots.

Squall stood back and watched as the plant-like creature screamed and writhed in agony until death's relief washed over it like a soothing wave.

That's one, Squall thought to himself but now, he was surrounded by these monsters, these Grats. One of the Grats used its large bulbs to propel it into the air in order to do some kind of deathblow that Squall had never before witnessed.

Squall simply countered this by thrusting forward his blade and letting gravity do the rest. The Grat easily slid onto the blade as if it were a skewer, all the while crying out in its agonized scream. Squall took the safety off his gunblade, cocked the hammer and put the Grat out of its misery with the pull of a trigger.

The loud deep bang echoed in the forest between the trees to be answered by the high pitched shrieking of the Grats. Squall removed the impaled carcass from his blade as he heard something that truly frightened him.

A loud demonic roar echoed throughout everywhere, ringing in Squall's ears, ringing throughout the entire forest.

_What is that, the rumored monster?_ Squall thought to himself.

He cast a couple of Blizzard spells to scatter the nearby Grats. He then made a run for it, sheathing his Gunblade so he could sprint faster. He knew he stood no chance against such a creature. He had seen hospital cases of its victims.

If he could get to the fence, pull the lever and get to the other side he'd be safe... assuming the horrid beast didn't come smashing through the fence during the two minute 'safety time' and tear apart every forsaken soul in Garden.

The roars were growing louder. Whatever it was, the monster was obviously getting closer. Within seconds, the monster's footsteps could be heard. Squall dived into a hiding place, hidden under trees.

A pair of giant legs ran right past Squalls face, low on the ground. After waiting for the beast to pass, Squall silently crawled out of his hiding place. Looking at the monster, he froze up in surprise. "A... dinosaur?" he uttered, his voice breaking in disbelief.

Squall rose to his feet and ran in the opposite direction of the dinosaur. Luckily the outline of the Monster's Lair was a complete circle with two exits. Hopefully the dinosaur would not notice its escaping prey.

Unfortunately, Squall had seemingly forgotten that luck was never on his side. Squall heard one more deafening roar. Squall looked back to see the dinosaur chasing him. It was getting closer with each giant step.

Squall began to sprint flat out, wishing that Balamb had some kind of supply of Haste spells. Of course there were none, the only spells around here were healing and elemental types.

As the dinosaur was moving in for the kill, he spun around in a full circle. As its tail swung around it slapped Squall diagonally upward and sideways, sending him flying hard into a nearby tree-trunk.

At the force of the impact sent Squall's legs swinging backwards around the trunk before his body fell limply to the ground.

The dinosaur brought his head down low and sniffed at its potential meal. The dinosaur sunk its teeth into Squalls leg, the pain of which was enough to extract a silent scream from Squall's throat.

The monster tossed Squall up into the air. Just as Squall bas beginning to fall back down, the Dinosaur spun again and used its tail to whack Squall away. Squall's body flew through the air before landing in a heap in such a position that it was a miracle his neck had not broken.

The pain of Squall's impact on the hard ground of this new hidden area was more than enough. As a result, Squall let a brief moan of agony escape his tight lips.

Squall crawled forward before the pain from his neck and leg grew too much for him to bear and he collapsed, lying there motionless until unconsciousness washed over him.

Unseen by Squall, the dinosaur came even closer, sniffing for his lost lunch. After several failed minutes of searching, the monster gave up and ran off to search for food elsewhere.

* * *

Some time later, on that same day, near that same place, two students who were known to Squall entered the Monster's Lair. Maybe if they were there earlier, they could've helped him out. It was merely a case of bad timing.

The first to enter the Lair was Zell. He had a smile on his face. He was soon followed by one of Seifer's tag-along friends, Fujin. Normally Fujin had been Seifer's partner and Zell had been with Squall but for SeeD training, Squall had been told he would be with Seifer while Zell was to be partnered with Fujin.

"So, where's Raijin again?" Zell asked.

"With Seifer, they went... fishing"

"Fishing?" asked Zell with disbelief.

"Yeah... it was Raijin's idea."

"Huh, I never knew Raijin liked fishing, neither of them really seem like the quiet, patient type."

Fujin smiled at that particular comment. Seifer being patient and Raijin being Quiet... that would never happen. The smile eventually faded. Zell had apparently not noticed this and continued talking.

"So they're fishing at Balamb, gonna get some o' the famous Balamb Fish huh?"

"No talk, Fight now!" Fujin demanded in a voice that meant business.

"Alrighty then" Zell said. "The game is cat and mouse. You run off now. In ten minutes, I try to hunt you down. If I can corner you, we face off. If I knock you out, I win. If you knock me out, you win. If time runs out, you win."

Fujin nodded.

"The time limit is two hours. If we are separated at this time, we make our own way to the safety zone."

"Agreed!" exclaimed Fujin. She ran off to find a good hiding spot.

Zell waited and allowed the ten minute stand-by time limit to pass before he began the process of tracking his opponent down.

As Zell walked through the humid landscape of the Monster's Lair, he saw the same scenery that Squall had been walking through earlier that same day, before he had run into the dinosaur.

Zell was careful to tread silently so he could listen to any sounds of movement in the trees. He wanted to find Fujin and catch her by surprise for a sneak-attack but the last thing he needed was to be ambushed by a group of monsters.

He froze when he saw a small flash of dark blue among the green and brown. He smiled, she was close by. He readied the most powerful of Thunder magic's daughter-branch, a level sixteen lightning-bolt spell.

Before he was able to cast the spell however, he was distracted by something. Something round and metallic, it was painted blue, roughly the size and shape of a circular saw-blade.

"A Pinwheel" Zell said to himself. This distraction had been enough to make Zell drop his spell, the magical energy was radiating out from Zell's hand, out into the air, now wasted.

"Alright Fujin, you got me" Zell shouted at the air "but now you have no weapon, just come out and fight me!"

His cry was answered by a grenade.

"Come on Fujin, you know you aren't supposed to use live ammo in training, although most people do against the monsters. Besides, throwing a frag grenade at a candidate of SeeD is pointless."

Unfortunately for Zell, he had underestimated Fujin. This was no fragmentation explosive. Before Zell could figure out the device's flight path, it had gone off with a blinding light, leaving Zell's vision impaired, to say the least.

"Damn, a flash bang. That aint fair Fujin!"

The next thing he knew, Zell was being lifted up as if caught in a miniature cyclone. He felt hard objects hitting him, things like rocks. He felt his body being manipulated by strong winds... then nothing. He was falling, until he was caught by something... someone... was it Fujin... or something else?"

Zell's vision returned. The light came to him as only a blur but slowly, his eyes began to focus. Someone was holding him; they had their arm around his throat in a sleeper hold.

The person brought their face close to Zell's ear "Grenade is an item" the person said in Fujin's harsh voice "item, Magic... combat use, Training, use."

"Fujin," Zell said "I have no idea what the hell you just said."

Fujin let him go and quickly circled him so they were face to face. She seemed to glide through the earth below her.

She jumped backward, forced herself into a back flip and landed near the pinwheel she had thrown at Zell.

Never taking her eyes off Zell, she bent down to pick up the pinwheel. It had the thickness of about half an inch and was covered in six inch spikes all the way around.

She held the cool metallic pinwheel against her cheek. "Fight, Now!" she said.

"Oh, right. I got ya" Zell answered, grinning all the while. He tightened the red leather gloves he was wearing in preparation for the fight. He stretched out his arms and back. He punched his knuckles together a couple of times before standing in a battle-ready stance.

One of Zell's hands was guarding his torso while the other guarded his face from any attack. "Alrighty then" Zell said to himself. "Here we go..." He launched himself up into the air and aimed a punch right at Fujin's gut.

Fujin blocked the attack with her pinwheel. One of the weapon's spikes grazed against Zell's hand and as he ignored the pain, he felt sure that the inside of his red leather gloves were right now getting redder by the second.

Fujin swung the pinwheel wildly left to right, back and forth as though it were a melee weapon. Zell dodged these aggressive swipes and aimed a high kick at her hand. The force of this caused her to loose her grip on the pinwheel.

Zell still had his leg up in the air. He kicked the pinwheel away from Fujin. "Now, let's do this hand to hand."

"Unfair!" Fujin accused.

"Yeah, maybe, some people see me having no primary weapon as a weakness but actually, I constitute it as an advantage. Now let's try this again."

Zell lunged forward at Fujin once more and charged at her with a fast combo of punches which he rounded off with a twin axe kick. He sent his knee up to her torso then straitened his leg, kicking her away from him.

Fujin stumbled backward but didn't fall. Instead, she seemed do be uplifted by a powerful wind. She faced her palm to Zell and the wind lifted him up as well. They were both in the air. They were both in Fujin's domain. The wind was her field of expertise.

Zell summoned up another Lightning bolt spell and shot it through the air at Fujin. It hit her, sending electricity through her body. The two of them began falling to the ground. Zell landed on his feet. Fujin however, did not.

Once his feet were on the ground, Zell began concentrating his spirit energy, focusing the magical energy of his stored Para-magic. He summoned the weakest Lightning-based spell, the first tier of lightning magic; Lightning spark.

He focused the magic into his fists, electrically charging them. As soon as Fujin got up, Zell hit her with a three hit left-right punch combo, the third punch sending her back to the ground.

The electrical charge in Zell's fists had by now been used up. Zell walked over to Fujin and lifted her up by the throat. "You're not really much of a fighter, are you?" he said "What exactly is you preferred area?"

"Intelligence" she told him.

"Ahh, intelligence gathering is it? I guess you must be good at computer use... I don't see you as much of a people person though."

Fujin gave no response.

Zell punched her twice in the face before lifting her high above his head and throwing her at a tree trunk. He approached to deliver the final attack when her expression stopped him.

"Zell, stop" she pleaded him.

"That's a pitiful fighting ethic."

"No, really" she said "behind, look"

"How stupid do you think I am? Even a drone of the G-army wouldn't fall for that."

Fujin sighed before raising her hand. "Surrender" she said.

"What? I was about to win!" Zell complained.

"Behind you!" warned Fujin.

Zell shook his head.

"Squall!" she cried out.

"What, Squall aint here!" Zell responded using Galbadian slang.

"Behind you, look!"

"Fine, but I'm gonna kick your ass till it falls off if you're faking surrender. Just remember that!" Zell informed her.

"No trick, look behind! Squall, unconscious!" Fujin said.

"What, all right. I'll bite." Zell replied. He looked around in search of any kind of body. Finally, he found Squall "Shit!"

"Unsafe, monsters everywhere!" said Fujin.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Zell agreed. "We'd better move him to safety."

Zell walked around to Squall and lifted him up by the shoulders. He turned Squall around and dragged him onto the dry-mud path. "Hey, Fujin, I need you to keep all the monsters away from me."

"Affirmative" Fujin responded.

There were relatively few monsters to bother them and Fujin quickly blew these away with her wind-based Para-magic. Eventually they got Squall to the Monster's Lair's closest exit. Fujin pulled down the lever to break the circuit between the electrified fence and the solid metal door.

She opened the door and walked through, holding it open for Zell as he dragged Squall's unconscious body out to the Safety Zone.

Zell gently let Squall lie flat on the grass. "Now what?" he asked.

Fujin shrugged her shoulders. "Injuries?" she asked.

"Maybe we should check" Zell answered. He leaned over Squall and undid his uniform blazer. Underneath he saw a chain around Squall's neck containing two items of jewelry. One was a metal pendant in the shape of some kind of monster. The other was a ring containing an engraving of the same thing – some kind of monster. Both were silver in colour.

Zell removed the blazer from Squall and asked Fujin to come over and hold Squall up.

She walked behind Squall, kneeled down and held his torso up against her own body. While she did this, Zell lifted up Squall's T-shirt. "Shit..." he said.

After a minute of examination, Zell was surprised by a quiet sound.

"...Ze-ll"

"Huh?" Zell asked. He looked up into the eyes of Squall. He smiled. "Squall!" he said, "You're awake!"

Squall's neutral expression quickly changed to a frown. "Zell, I'm counting in my head, if you're touching me when I reach five, neither of us will be participating in this years SeeD exam."

It took Zell a while before he could realize what Squall was talking about. When he finally figured it out, he jumped back. Squall's white T-shirt fell back down to cover him.

After a long pause, Squall finally asked "Zell, Who is holding me?"

"Oh, that's Fujin" Zell answered.

"Then tell her she can feel free to drop me at any time."

The Hands holding Squall up instantly relinquished their grasp on him, causing him to fall backward. He landed on Fujin's slim figure. After a short while, he tried to stand. Looking to Zell, he asked "Where's my jacket?"

"Oh, it's over here" Zell answered. He picked up Squall's jacket and handed it to its rightful owner. Squall put the jacket on and began walked toward the exit but after a few steps, he lost his balance and fell. He put his leg in front of him to stop him falling over; instead he landed hard on his knee.

Fujin put out her hand to help Squall up but Squall ignored this and stood up on his own. He took another step but as soon as he put weight on his leg, he fell over again.

"Squall," Zell said "when Fujin offers you help, you should accept. You know you may never get the offer ever again."

"Whatever" replied Squall.

"But... damn, man. Squall, you know you shouldn't train alone."

"Whatever" Squall replied once more "Why do you care anyway?" he asked.

"...damn" Zell repeated. "What happened to you anyway?"

Squall ran through the days events in his mind. "I came here to train, just like I always do... but there was something else in here... and today I saw it."

"What?"

"Have you ever been training late at night and heard something monstrous, a roar far away in the distance?"

"You mean..."

"The rumored monster... I saw it."

"Really, what was it?"

"A dinosaur."

"What, that can't be... right Fujin?" Zell looked to Fujin. Her eye was wide. "What is it; don't tell me you've seen it too?"

Fujin nodded her head. "My eye, taken."

"Shit, the rumored monster took your eye?"

Fujin nodded. Her eye cam to rest on Squall "his leg" she said.

"He should go to the Infirmary" Zell agreed as if Squall was not there. "Can you take him? I need to go into town."

Fujin nodded.

"Thanks, I'm already running late. I'll see ya later." He ran towards the front gate at the south of Garden.

After Zell's departure, Fujin offered Squall her hand once more. This time, he took it and Fujin helped him to stand and to support his weight, keeping it off his injured leg. Slowly, Fujin helped him to the infirmary to see the doctor.

Eventually the two reached the doctor's office, the inside of which was pure white and sterile. Upon seeing them, the doctor stood up and said "Squall, what is it, are you injured again?"

"No" Squall lied. "I'm fine."

"Negative!" Fujin said "Training injuries, his leg... and upper body!"

"Fu... with Leonheart?" sounded a hidden voice. It was Seifer's voice. _Great_ Squall thought _what's he doing here?_ "What the fuck?" Seifer said. The next sound Squall heard was that of a large heave and then the sound of liquid vomit hitting a no-longer sterile aluminum bucket.

"Seifer!?" asked Fujin.

"What's he doing here?" Squall asked. Fujin must have been thinking the same thing.

"Nothing to worry about, just a mild case of food poisoning" the doctor assured them. "He ate some poisonous fish." She turned to Fujin and said "Take him into the end cubicle. There's someone in there, but I'm sure she won't mind. I'm ready to talk with her anyway. Send her out for me?" she requested.

Fujin nodded and walked Squall to a private cubicle at the back of the room.

In the cubicle, Squall saw the girl from before... Selphie, that was her name.

"Squall, what happened to you?" she asked.

"Nothing," he answered. "I'm fine. I just need to rest."

"SeeD training starts tomorrow doesn't it" Selphie asked. "Are you going to be well enough?"

"Don't waste your time worrying about me. You should look after only yourself." He turned to Fujin. "And you don't feel obligated. You can leave whenever. I'm sure you'd rather go and see Seifer anyway."

Fujin looked away.

"Go on."

Eventually, Fujin left Squall alone with Selphie so she could talk with Seifer.

"So you wanted some alone time with yours truly, huh?" Selphie joked.

"You can leave too." Squall said, electing to be left alone. "The doctor said she wanted to talk with you."

"Nah uh, I'm not going anywhere."

"Leave, as soon as the feeling in my leg returns, I'm heading for my Dorm room."

"Squall, you may think you're top of the class but you've got a lot to learn. When a cute girl elects to sit by your side, you're not supposed to drive her away." With that being said, Selphie left the cubicle leaving Squall sitting alone on the bed.

In the cubicle next to Squall's, Fujin walked in to see Seifer leaning over a bucket. "You sick?" She asked.

Seifer spat before speaking. "No, I'm on vacation island" he said sarcastically.

Fujin ignored his sarcastic remark.

"This is all Raijin's fault." Seifer said. "'Let's go fishin'. It'll be fun, ya know! damn Raijin and his poison fish, I swear to Hyne I'm going to fucking kill that dumb bastard."

"Seifer, no joke!" Fujin said.

"Yeah yeah, he's our friend and all" Seifer said, rolling his eyes.

Back in Squall's cubicle, Selphie had returned.

"What?" Squall asked her.

"You don't wanna stay here all night do you?" Selphie asked in response to Squall's own question.

"No" Squall answered, biting back the sarcastic bitterness he felt towards Selphie's stupid question.

"Well, I'm heading up to the dormitories. If you want, you can walk with me. I don't know how badly you hurt your leg but if you need to, you can lean on me."

"Why are you doing this? Why do you care?"

"You showed me around, well... sort of. I want to return the favor, alright?"

"Fine" Squall answered.

"You don't seem very enthusiastic."

"Whatever."

Selphie helped Squall to his feet and walked with him out of the Infirmary. Together they walked to the Dormitories in silence. Squall didn't know what time it was... he still needed to get a new watch. For some reason, the halls were empty. Usually there were SeeD and cadets walking all over the place.

When they reached the dormitories, Selphie pushed the button for the Dorm elevator. After a few seconds, the door opened and they stepped inside. The door closed behind them.

"What Dorm room is yours?" Selphie asked.

"Three six oh... nine oh two" Squall told her.

"Wait a minute..." Selphie said. She took a piece of paper out of her blazer pocket. Examining it she cried out. "This is cazy! We're roommates."

Squall was surprised by this news but hid it well. His facial expression remained neutral. Selphie punched in the code for the Dorm room.

When the door opened again, the two stepped out. Squall headed toward the door in front of him on the right while Selphie headed for the door on the left. Squall pulled out his ID card and swiped it through the lock on the door.

The lock beeped and the door opened.

"Squall," Selphie said.

Squall looked in her direction.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Squall nodded.

Selphie approached him and handed him a bottle full of red liquid. Squall unscrewed the lid and smelled the harsh chemical inside.

"I know" Selphie said. "I don't trust that stuff either, but the doctor told me to give it to you. She said if you drink it all in one go, it will repair your body to perfect health. If you trust me to tell you the truth, I'd suggest you drink it. I don't want you to fail the SeeD exam all because of some dumb injury."

"...thanks" Squall said before stepping into his room. The door swiftly closed behind him with a whoosh sound.


	10. Chapter X Class With Those That Have no

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era:**

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Author's Notes:** It's been a long time since my last update... I began writing this chapter so long ago but experienced computer problems... including the entire computer crashing. Of course, I had no way of backing up my stories so thought they were lost... fortunately, the hard drive was able to be conected to a laptop so now I'm back again.

**Chapter X – Class with those who have none**

Another restless, sleepless, dreamless night had passed and Squall lay awake in his room feeling as exhausted as he had been the night before. He didn't know which was worse; the feeling of sickness emanating from his mind, or the fact that his SeeD training was about to start.

Squall swung his legs around and sat up on the bed, rising to his feet. He remembered the injury he had suffered the day before, his leg felt fine, as though nothing had happened. Whatever that potion had done… it had worked.

Squall was feeling anxious about what was yet to come. He didn't know whether or not he could face it. Maybe he should give up and be done with this... with this feeling. Squall ran a hand through his hair and decided to move on.

He forced his pessimistic feelings of doom and failure to the back of his mind and changed into his uniform.

He left the ghost-town of a Dormitory and entered the equally empty hall. Passing the car park and cafeteria, Squall still saw no other person.

No Seifer, No Zell, indeed, no one to harass annoy or enrage him. He witnessed no Selphie or Quistis, his instructor. Neither Raijin nor Fujin and as he entered the lobby, Squall saw people; but no one he recognized, merely the uniformed inhabitants of Garden with no faces... faceless SeeD and student alike.

These people neither bugged nor noticed him. They may as well have not been there at all. They left him alone and he stowed upon them the same level of courteous respect. Still trapped in thought, Squall climbed the stairs in the centre of the lobby and pushed the button to call the elevator car.

As the unsoiled glass doors; so clean they shined like a mirror, finally opened, Squall stepped inside the elevator and pushed the only lit-up button on the panel. Squall couldn't help but wonder if the other seemingly burnt-out buttons actually did anything and if not, why were they there? Surely the Headmaster must have a way into his office but as for the other buttons... did Garden even have a basement?

After mere seconds, the elevator slowed in its ascent until it remained stationary on the second floor and the glass doors opened with their usual "beep."

Squall stepped out of the elevator and walked down the empty hallway. He pulled a laminated timetable from his left-side pants pocket and examined it to find his new classroom.

"Squall Leonheart"

"Pre-SeeD Educational Timetable: Stage Two – SeeD Training"

"0900 - 1200: Theory – Room 2111"

"1300 – 1600: Practice – Training Centre Safety Zone"

Squall found his classroom after a period of walking the hallways. Balamb Garden was reasonably large but its classroom layout was comparatively simple and easy to follow. His room was '2111.' The twenty one at the beginning meant second floor, north hallway. The eleven at the end of the number stood for the first room in the first hallway, room number two thousand, one hundred and eleven.

Squall walked inside to be greeted by his instructor, Quistis Trepe.

"Hello Squall" she said warmly. She spoke to him with seniority although it was tapered with youth.

Squall couldn't see how the instructor could have been more than a few years older than himself, Squall guessed her age at twenty... maybe twenty one. No more. Her skills must have been greatly refined at a young age for her to advance this far in her career as a SeeD so early in her life... not that SeeD generally lead that long a life.

"You're just in time Squall, take a seat wherever you want" Quistis continued.

Squall merely nodded to show he understood and took his usual seat at the left-most desk in the back row.

"Well now, look who it is."

Squall looked up. In front of him sat Zell and Raijin. Squall turned his head and looked to his right. At the second to last seat in the right-most end of the row sat Fujin and to the right of her, sat Seifer. Squall decided to ignore them.

After ten minutes had passed, Squall was almost beyond bored. His eyes were glazed and his face, expressionless. Inside, he was struggling to stay awake. Sleep deprivation was catching up with him like a ghastly reaper, shrouded in a cloak of deathly darkness and full of sinfully wicked bloodlust, yearning for its pathetic prey, it's screaming carcass-to-be, a shrieking dying youth prior to being silenced by a scythe in the back and the extraction of forever-damned victim's soul in bloody agonizingly painful death.

"Well then, I think that's everyone isn't it?" the instructor said to herself. She looked to the students in her class. "Alright then, shall we get started?" she asked them but before she could do anything else, the electronic door opened and someone stepped inside... an auburn haired girl whom no one could recall ever seeing before... that is, none of the students pointing their gaze in her direction.

One student in the back had laid eyes on this girl, the auburn haired girl wearing a Garden uniform, but one differing slightly from the other Garden students.

"Aahh... sorry if I'm a little late" the girl said.

"Are you in this class?" the instructor asked.

"I think so."

"...oh, are you my new exchange student?"

"Yes, that's me... from Trabia."

"Oh, okay then, welcome... Selphie, is it?"

"Yeah" she answered.

"Alright then, please take a seat. The class is just about to begin."

The girl walked between the desks and computer terminals and smiled when she saw a recognizable face. She headed for the back of the class and sat next to Squall. "Hi Squall," She said "looks like I _am_ in this class after all."

At the sound of his own name, the cloud of drowsiness that had come over Squall immediately relinquished its hold over his mind and he awoke fresh as a herb garden, like someone that had been surprisingly scolded with hot water during the course of his morning routine.

"Very well then" the instructor started once more. "If there are no more distractions, maybe we can finally get started."

No objections were heard so the instructor continued. "Now, for the next month, you are all going to be pushed harder than ever before. You will be working harder than you ever have in your life. Your muscles will ache, your entire bodies will become exhausted and your minds may very well overload from the volume of information you are required to learn or simply from the intense pressure. Candidates have cracked during this program and it is for _this_ reason that I am required to request the following."

She paused a little before proposing the question. "This class is not for the weak, strength of both the body and mind will be required. We will be testing your will and your ability to handle under pressure. If anyone has doubts about their dedication to garden, I advise you to drop out now and save yourself, your classmates and your instructors a lot of wasted time. Please be advised that this program is taking place during student's holiday time and failure will mean loss of holiday."

A long silence followed the instructor's words but no one raised their hands or gave any indication of quitting and abandoning their hopes and dreams of becoming members of SeeD.

"Anyone?" the instructor asked. "No one?" she asked once more. "No?" she repeated, offering her student's one final chance. "Good" she said finally. "Now that we've gotten all of the formalities out of the way, let us begin."

* * *

The first theory class for the month had ended. Squall had found it easy enough, not that he had really done anything. Quistis had spent the whole time talking about what they would have to do over the next month.

There was a lot of spare time after what Squall suspected to be a pre-organized speech and the young instructor had spent this time asking and answering questions, more or less talking to the students as though she were one of them.

Squall hadn't had to do anything for the entire lesson. He had just sat there in his seat in the back and listened. He wondered if the practical lesson later that day would also be as easy.

Perhaps the first day was always spent simply talking to the instructor's and getting to know the other students better, like an introductory course that was designed to do little more than better acquaint a student with his fellow learners and familiarize him with his tools, although the tools of Squall's trade would be instruments of death and destruction; guns and swords and other kinds of lethal weapons.

Squall sat alone at a table in the corner of the cafeteria, whenever Squall sat in the garden's canteen, he always sat by himself at the same table. Generally, people seemed to take the hint that Squall didn't want to be disturbed and respected his privacy.

Of course, there was always an exception to every rule. Two fellow SeeD candidates always seemed to enjoy bugging him, he wished they'd stop and leave him alone. The two students were, of course, Zell and Seifer.

Squall heard the sound of approaching footsteps and knew instantly, without even having to look up that it would be either Seifer or Zell.

"Hey, Leonheart" came the arrogant sound of Seifer's self-important voice, entering Squalls ear canal and forcing its way into his head, blocking off the access to any other form of thought like an angry motorist cuts others off on the road.

Squall ignored his new self-appointed rival, hoping he would go away, all the while knowing full-well that he would never have such luck, Seifer _never_ left him alone.

"I've seen you with that new girl" Seifer said.

"So?" Squall asked. Why did Seifer even care? He had a life of his own, didn't he? Why couldn't he go and bother someone else?"

"Well, I was just curious. You see, Raijin told me that she must be blind and you're like her guide dog and that's the only reason why she's with you."

"Whatever" Squall replied, not caring, he had learned to ignore Seifer's words, his words were cheap and existed only to provoke the weak into a fight they couldn't win. Anyone that could beat Seifer in a fight would afterwards be punished for fighting, anyone who suffered injuries to Seifer's hands were simply unworthy training partners.

"Yeah" Seifer continued "that's what Raijin thinks, Fujin disagrees with him though. I came here to ask you for your help, just tell me what you think. Help me settle a bet."

Squall continued to ignore the spiteful blonde.

"You see, she says he's wrong, there's nothing wrong with that girl."

Squall's eyes widened. Was Seifer telling the truth? Had they really been talking about him? What did _Fujin_ think about Selphie?

"Fujin says that the new girl just pities you."

Squall's eyes narrowed once more to their usual width.

"Squall" the girl Seifer had been talking about said, calling out from the other side of the room. "Come here" she said. Squall didn't even have to think whose company he'd rather be in. He'd prefer Selphie to Seifer any day but then again, He'd prefer almost anyone's company to that of Seifer's of Zell's.

He stood to his feet and crossed the room to where Selphie was standing.

"Yeah, that's what _they_ say" Seifer said, continuing to talk after Squall had left despite the fact that no one could hear him, he was talking to himself. "I disagree with both of them, however. I don't care _what_ people say, I _know_ your better than everyone – me included – makes you out to be, I think she _actually_ likes you… and since we are now rivals, anything of yours must soon become mine. She may like you now but soon she'll grow to prefer me, I don't care what she sees in you, I _will_ ruin this for you, you can believe that, it _will_ come true.

* * *

Squall walked towards the training centre for his afternoon class. The afternoon classes were always physical combat or other such practical classes. If the class before them would be another lecture then it would be simple enough.

It would be simple but pointless. Squall had no interest in such lessons. He knew how to handle a sword and a side-arm. He was a pretty decent fighter with a Gunblade too and the Gunblade was one of the most difficult weapons to use effectively in battle, many novices would end up hurting themselves or even breaking their wrists from the immense weight of the weapon.

He also knew all about the Training Centre, after all, he spent most of his time in there, he spent more time with the creatures that he slaughtered for practice than he did with his fellow humans.

Selphie tagged along right behind him like an excited puppy following a young schoolboy home one sunny afternoon. Squall had no idea why she insisted on following him around.

He remembered what Seifer had told him in the cafeteria. Maybe she _did_ pity him, did she think she was doing him a favor, following him around like this, trying to give people the impression that someone had chosen him as a friend?

He didn't need her doing that, he didn't want people talking about him behind his back. He didn't want people thinking about him or even looking at him. Quistis might have enjoyed that kind of attention but Squall wanted no part in it, no matter which end he happened to be on.

Squall always tried to keep his nose out of other people's business. He always made sure to stay out of their way. Why couldn't everyone else show him the same kind of courtesy?

He reminded himself that for the most part, the majority of people here at Garden did just that, they stayed away from him as long as he did the same. It was just too bad that these three fellow candidates couldn't follow the example that had been set by all the rest of Garden.

Seifer, Zell and now, Selphie as well, his list of pests seemed to be growing steadily longer. Squall didn't know how long he could put up with all three of them, they were tiresome, to say the least.

"Squall?" asked Selphie in a voice that didn't demand attention but somehow acquired in all the same.

Squall stopped walking, they were here, anyway. In the grassy area of the Safety Zone, the rest of the class were already here. Seifer and his Disciplinary Committee were standing in the middle of the 'room.'

On his own, in the corner, stood Zell, scattered throughout the room were the other members of the class, none of whom Squall knew personally.

"Is something on your mind?" Selphie asked him.

"…No" Squall answered in his usual emotionless, monotonous drawl.

"Hey, what's with the attitude?" Selphie asked.

"It's nothing, get used to it, I'm always like this, this is just me. This is just the way I am, if you don't like it, you can just leave me alone."

"Hey, I just wanted to know if anything was wrong" Selphie said in her own self-defense "you just seem quiet, that's all, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry if I offended you."

Squall sighed "No… like I said, I'm always like this."

"Oh" Selphie replied. _It was never this hard making friends back in Trabia_ she said inside her head.

"Yo, Squall!" Zell said unnecessarily loudly "did you see anyone when you came here?"

"No" Squall replied.

"Oh, so then… Where the hell is the instructor, I mean who the hell does he think he is, makin' us wait here… as though we have nothing better to do, as if we don't all have lives of our own!"

"Yeah, how inconsiderate of him" Seifer cut in "I mean we all know that _you_ have no life, but _some of us_ find this whole thing as a big inconvenience."

"Yeah… hey, wait a minute" Zell said, taking a while to realize what had been said.

"Even Leonheart's moving on, just look at him over there; chatting up the new girl… maybe you should fight her. We may as well have a show while we're waiting."

"Oh yeah, nice try Seifer" Zell said, not falling for an obvious trap. "How stupid do you think I am? You just want to make me start a fight with someone so that you can punish me later."

"Oh, _come on_ you chicken! What are you scared of, look at her. Beat her up, you know she deserves it, she's standing there, smiling in her foreign uniform and she's stealing your man."

"What?!!" Zell replied "Would you cut that out already?!!" he replied, sending a left hook right into Seifer's perfect 'pretty boy' face.

Seifer had not been expecting this kind of reaction; most people were too scared of him to even respond to his taunts."

Before Seifer could retaliate, Zell crossed to the other side of the room to continue his rant elsewhere.

"Yeah, just walk away, you chicken" Seifer said quietly as the blonde brawler moved steadily away from him.

Squall watched Zell as he moved and his disappointment grew as he realized where the fighter was going. Zell was walking strait toward _him_.

"Squall, where's the instructor?" Selphie asked the tall brunette.

"I don't know" Squall answered her truthfully.

"Man, where the hell _is_ he!" Zell cried out with impatience "How long is he gonna make us wait here?"

"So sorry to keep you waiting" a gruff voice replied "I assume everyone is here?"

Zell lost his temper for a split second – just long enough to make him do something stupid. He swung around to face the owner of the voice behind him with his fist flying fast through the air until it hit someone.

The instant the fist hit the man behind him; everybody froze in place, Zell included. He had just hit the instructor.

The instructor simply stood there for a minute as though nothing had happened. His eyes drifted down to meet Zell's and a smirk found itself etching its way onto his face. "I suppose you know that attacking your instructor is reasonable grounds for expulsion" he said, causing Zell's eyes to snap open to full width. "But I suppose I can let this one pass." He lifted his hand and formed it into a fist which he shot strait at the short-tempered SeeD candidate in the form of a jab that sent the ill-fated student flying across the ground like a fresh carcass being dragged behind a jeep. The instructor laughed "After all, you punch so weak that it could hardly be felt."

"So you're the instructor?" asked Seifer's bronze brawn-aplenty, brain-lacking friend.

The instructor laughed. "Why yes I am" he said "and who might you be, my dim-witted friend?"

"I'm Raijin… and this is Fujin and Seifer, we make up the Disciplinary Committee, ya know!"

"I'm sure you do… Seifer" he said, looking strait at the arrogant blonde "I've heard _so_ much about you" he turned to Squall "and _you_ must be the 'problem child' he said.

"Problem child?" asked Selphie, her question went ignored and unanswered.

"Yeah, that's him… Squall Leonheart" said another voice. Someone had followed the instructor. Her voice was full of confidence and superiority but through her eyes shone deep concern.

She approached Squall and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I feel for you" she said quietly with her eyes closed so that only he could hear her. She wore the uniform of a SeeD, the dark blue of the fabric complemented by her olive skin and medium length black hair that hung down behind her, reaching just below her shoulders. She opened her eyes and let out a long sigh before saying "I truly do, it seems that luck really _is_ against you."

Squall, Selphie and Zell all matched this female SeeD's concerned facial expression.

"To get _this_ instructor, especially on your first time taking the training… it will not be easy" the SeeD whispered to Squall.

"What the fuck are _you_ doing here?!!" the instructor demanded.

"The headmaster sent me" the SeeD said. Her voice and body stood up strong but Squall could tell that this was only an act; he could see it in her eyes. She was… scared.

"Oh, did he now, and why would that be?" he asked.

The SeeD paused before talking, t_o stop you from murdering his favorite student._

"Well?"

The SeeD's heartbeat began to increase. This instructor's methods were brutal and questionable. His standards were impossible to meet. This man was the cause of many of the student's mental breakdowns. To have him as an instructor was madness. She should know, she was taught by the man herself.

She turned to face him and swallowed the buildup of saliva in her mouth before opening it to speak. "I'm just here to observe" she finally said. "The headmaster asked me to report on the students' progress."

"Is that right?" the instructor said.

"…and to make sure you don't give any… special treatment to any particular students."

"Is – that – right?" he said once more, this time more slowly and more ominously, almost threateningly in a way. "Well then" he said, changing his tone and talking to all the students in the safety zone. "I hope you're ready to work… because that's what you're here to do. I hear some of the _weaker_ instructors use this day to slowly introduce you and get to know you all but not me, I think we should get right into it. You all had better be ready to sweat because I'm the best instructor in Garden, having me is a privilege that must be earned and you are all in debt."

"He's right" the SeeD added "He's right, if you survive the next month, you're gonna be pretty tough. He _is_ the toughest instructor here after all, _trust_ me on that."

"Yeah, you can all call me Instructor P" the instructor said.

"Instructor P?" Seifer repeated scornfully.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Instructor P asked menacingly.

"Maybe" Seifer replied, matching threat for threat. "You say that you're the toughest instructor here, let's just see how tough you really are."

Instructor P smiled. "They were right about you" he said. "Allrighty then, it looks like you've got _two_ instructors for the afternoons, _this_" he said, pointing his arm in the female SeeD's direction "is in fact a member of SeeD and as it happens, I just so happened to be her instructor. This is Xu."

The SeeD nodded. "Do your best" she said, addressing the candidates "remember, I'm reporting directly to Headmaster Cid."

"Well then" said P "I guess we'd better get _to_ it then."

"Wait!" Seifer interrupted "What the hell kind of name is P?"

"If you must know, it's short for Pete. P's an initial. I go by said initial, P's my only name."

"Really?" asked Seifer.

"Someone always asks me that question, every single year… right, lets do it" P instructed "I want everyone to pair up with their pre-assigned partners. I want to see you fight, show me what you can do, hand-to-hand, go!"

At P's instruction, the candidates all paired up, leaving Selphie on her own. Xu approached her immediately as though she stuck out like an unhammered nail. "Are you the transfer from Trabia?" she asked.

"Yep" Selphie replied.

"Alright, you have no partner so I guess your gonna have to fight me."

Selphie smiled. "That's alright" she said.

"I'd better warn you though, I've been a SeeD for three years so it's only natural that I'll have more fighting experience than you. I'll hold back to begin with but you come at me with everything you've got. I want to see what you can do. Show me what the instructors taught you at the Garden in Trabia."

Smiling, Selphie nodded and got into a battle-ready stance.

"Come on, you attack first."

Selphie charged at the SeeD, clenching her hands into fists as she ran. Just before reaching her, before closing the gap between her and her target, she leapt into the air and launched a kick right into Xu's face.

Xu had foreseen this all along and knew just what to expect. "Not bad" she commented "but you can not beat me, your style is too familiar and I have more experience." She delivered a hard roundhouse kick that knocked Selphie backward.

Xu quickly jumped toward her sparring partner, clearing the distance between them in a fraction of a second. "I'm also a lot faster that you" she said. She thrust forward her right fist strait into Selphie's abdomen, the pain from which would undoubtedly stun her for at least a few seconds.

Xu sent a barrage of rapid jabs to her opponent's body before finishing her with a powerful open-palm punch, rounded off with a mid-level kick that sent Selphie sliding back. The SeeD let her defeated opponent fall to the hardened mud ground.

"Hey, you're pretty good at this" Selphie said as she rose to her feet.

"You're not so bad yourself" Xu replied with a smile "with practice, you could possibly match me in combat… but you have a major weakness."

"What weakness?"

"Your weakness" Xu replied "or should I say… your lack of strength. I can see that you know what you are doing; it's just that your attacks are not powerful enough to really hurt anyone else in your skill level."

"Really?" asked Selphie with disappointment evident in her voice.

"What is your preferred discipline?"

"Nunchaku"

"I thought as much. That is a weapon used by the small in this region, it is no longer popular. Before you came along, Balamb Garden had no-one with that weapon. Tell me, is it popular in Trabia?"

"Yes, actually" replied Selphie.

"Very well, I think I can understand some of your abilities. I will make a mental note of it and report this to the Headmaster. He seems to be very interested in seeing what you can do. We have not had a transfer from Trabia for quite some time. Keep practicing and you will do fine, you actually remind me of someone."

"Who?"

"Your fighting style reminds me of me, a few years ago. I never used to have a strong body, until I became a SeeD. The same training that you will be going through is what toughened me up."

"Do you think I can become strong over the next month as well?"

Xu laughed "with the instructor this class has, you can count on it" she said. "Alright then, I'll leave you alone, I have to check on the other groups." She turned around and froze at what she saw.

She knew something like this was bound to happen. The Garden Master was right. There was no way Leonheart could ever beat Seifer, Seifer was Garden's top student. If it weren't for his attitude, Seifer would have certainly have attained the rank of SeeD before now.

Across the room from her, Seifer and Squall had been fighting and it was obvious who the superior fighter was. Seifer stood over his defeated opponent with superiority gleaming off his face like light reflecting off clean glass.

The blonde stood over his opponent, basking in his victory while Squall knelt at his victor's feet, beaten and exhausted. Seifer reached down and pulled his rival up by the collar of the T-shirt under his blazer. Seifer lifted his rival's body up so much that his feet were no longer touching the ground.

"Seifer, for Hyne's sake, put him down!" Xu ordered.

"Of course" Seifer replied, letting go of Squall and allowing him to fall onto the ground below.

The Instructor looked on, watching the whole fiasco with a superior smile on his face. This was going just how the Master had said it would. Seifer would beat Squall even if he had an arm and a leg both tied behind his back.

Xu glared at the instructor. Was he in league with the Master, were they conspiring something… or was this all part of the wager? Whatever it was, the result was clear. It was a stupid wager and Cid knew it, Seifer would undoubtedly do better than Squall and Cid would loose his bet with the Master.

"Attention!" Instructor P said, gathering the attention of everyone in the room. "Everybody stop fighting and listen up, that was a good introduction. I have been watching you all and studying the way you fought. I will try my best to come up with a lesson plan that will be both challenging and worthwhile to you all. You now have the afternoon off" he said, saluting them, turning his back on them and leaving before anyone had a chance to react.

"Yell then" Xu said "It looks like you have the rest of the day to yourselves, use it well. I suggest you get a good night's sleep tonight because tomorrow will likely be a busy day. This was just an introduction. Tomorrow, your _real_ training begins, dismissed!"

The students all wandered out and scattered to different areas of Garden. Seifer, Raijin and Fujin walked in one direction. Squall and Selphie went in another. The rest of the students scattered, some of them in small groups, others on their own. Zell however was a little different; he took off in a sprint. Xu wondered where he was going although she had her suspicions. Zell quite often ran everywhere; he was very fast and loud. He was most likely running to the Cafeteria to stock up on carbohydrates. In some ways, he was like a kid, not at all like Squall.

What was it about Squall; it was as though people were drawn to him. Headmaster Cid and Quistis Trepe seemed to prefer him to the other students while the Master saw him as a slacker for some reason. Seifer considered him a rival and now Selphie – the new exchange student – it seemed had found something she liked within him.

He was like a pig, with so many different sections and organs to be processed into so many different kinds of meat and products for so many different people. What _was_ it about him? He differed from the other students somehow. He was… he was different.

She left the training center to make her way to the Headmaster's office. She had to make her report.

* * *

"Wait!" Selphie complained "Where are you going?" she asked Squall.

"I was going to the Dormitory" he replied.

"Oh, then don't you wanna see the common room?"

"Common room?" asked Squall.

"Yeah, some of the other candidates told me about it, apparently its _really_ comfy in there, they have a heater and a sofa and a kitchen… they've even got a TV in there!"

"The Common room is for SeeD only" Squall replied matter-of-factly.

"No it's not!" Selphie argued "SeeD Candidates are allowed in too!"

"I didn't know that" Squall said.

"So, do you wanna go see?"

Squall shook his head slowly "not really" he said.

"Aw, c'mon" Selphie protested like a child convincing a parent to play a game with them at the park.

Squall rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. He would never get any peace until he agreed to go with her. "…Fine" he finally said without enthusiasm."

A big goofy grin plastered itself on Selphie's cute, innocent-looking face. She was like a child at times, as though she were high on a hormone releasing drug known as immaturity. "Follow me!" she said, leading the way, leading Squall where she wanted to go like a young child in a toy shop leading her parents' money to the plastic figurine she wanted like a dog herding sheep in a pen"

"Here it is!" she said, announcing it to Squall.

"This?" Squall asked in disbelief.

"Yeah!" answered Selphie. Squall could hear the excitement in her voice. To _her_, this seemed like a big deal.

"What's with you?" Squall asked her "why you are so excited, what's the big deal?"

"You know" Selphie replied, sounding like one who changes the subject a lot "you have an uncanny ability to suck the fun out of anything, don't you."

"Whatever" Squall replied as if the word were an automatic recording pre-programmed in his brain from years of repetitive overuse."

"See what I mean?" Selphie said while taking out her Garden ID card. She swiped it through the electronic lock and the door slid open, allowing the two candidates to enter the room.

To Squall's surprise, the room was rather small and cozy. Half the room had a tiled floor and walls with countertops and appliances littering the edges. On the right, the floor was covered in red carpet while the walls were covered in red wallpaper.

An electric heater was built into the wall under the mantle as though it had once been an open fireplace. Several armchairs and a three-seater sofa surrounded the heater in a U-shaped seating arrangement.

The entire room was empty except for one minor annoyance – Zell.

"What are you guy's doing here?" Zell asked them.

"We just wanted to see what this room was like. Squall didn't want to come on his own so I'm tagging along too" Selphie teased.

Squall shot Selphie a look that said the joke was over.

"See what I mean? You're too serious, Squall. You have to lighten up and have more fun!"

"Yeah, I'll say" Zell agreed.

"Whatever" Squall replied in a voice that said he really couldn't care less about what these two were saying.

"So what, are _you_ the only one here?" Selphie asked the blonde fighter.

"Yeah, I am now" Zell replied "But before, Seifer, Raijin and Fujin were here."

"Where did they go?" Selphie asked.

"I think they went back to the training centre" Zell answered.

"I see" replied Selphie. She walked over to the wall where there sat a large television. "So… this is Garden's only TV?"

"Ah, yeah, I think so" Zell answered "but I dunno. There may be another one in the headmaster's office or something. Do you wanna turn it on?"

"What's the point?" Squall asked bitterly "There won't be anything on. It's all Galbadian propaganda anyway."

"What?" the other two asked simultaneously.

"Think about it" Squall replied "When's the last time you heard about a movie or TV show coming from Dollet or Trabia? Timber has a TV station, doesn't it? Why then does it only broadcast Galbadian viewing?"

"Oh, I know!" Zell said, raising his hand as if he were answering a teacher's question in a pop quiz. "It's coz of the occupation. Galbadia must be screening all regulated viewing."

"It's all censored so that it all reflects on how great the president of Galbadia is. It's all the same." Squall walked over and sat down on the Sofa. The other two candidates joined him, one sitting on either side of the brown-haired candidate.

The sofa was made for three and was filled to capacity, but Squall felt that the other two were much too close for his liking. He considered saying something but decided against it. He suddenly felt a rush of fatigue wash over him and was reminded greatly of how he had felt that morning.

He rested his head back on the back of the sofa and closed his eyes, feeling too tired and lazy to say anything to the others or to move. He was so tired that he felt sure he would soon be asleep. He didn't know what the two teenagers on either side of him would say, think or do and he didn't really give it much thought. He was far too tired to care.


	11. Chapter XI Fight for Peace

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Chapter XI - Fight for Peace**

Squall stirred quietly from a light rest feeling unsure whether he had really been asleep at all. He wondered how long he had been there. He turned his head to the left and saw someone… there was another one on his right.

Then he remembered how tired he had been the day before. How long had he been there, what time was it? Squall looked at his… He undid the buckle on the leather strap of his watch as a sigh escaped him. _I really need to get this fixed._

Squall placed the watch in the left side pocket of his pants and looked around the room for any kind of clock, surely there would be _something_ in here to tell him the time – just so he knew.

He had to find out if it was morning yet. Had he _really_ allowed himself to fall asleep in such a disgraceful way? He _never_ allowed people to get _that_ close.

Squall continued to crane his neck this way and that, trying to find _any_ kind of time-reading device – a clock, a microwave, an oven timer, a VCR – nothing. There was nothing.

_What kind of staff lounge has no clocks, certainly, rooms like this in schools and supermarkets and office buildings must have some way to relay the time to employees, otherwise how would they know when to go back to work?_

Oh no, not Balamb Garden, Garden expected every one of its pupils or staff to have the time on them every single second of the day.

Squall had to remind himself that this _was_ the case; at least it was for many, if not all. Squall just happened to have run into some bad luck lately.

Actually, he always seemed to have bad luck, it followed him around like the smell of someone else's blood that hangs around the warm, dripping, crimson-stained blade of a soldiers bayonet. He always had unfortunate events following him around like bad karma but it was more than that, it seemed like it had gotten worse ever since he applied to take the SeeD exam.

Squall continued to look around despite knowing that there was no clock to be found. He turned around in his seat, trying to look behind him to see if anything was on any of the walls behind him.

_There must be something in the kitchen area; the stove most likely has something._

Squall was about to walk into the kitchen so he could look around when he heard something that made him freeze.

He heard a soft unpronounced groan coming from his right. He instantly froze. Was _he_ waking up… was _she_ waking up as well? What would they say when they saw him, what would they think, what would they do?

"Mmm, yeah… like that" Zell said softly, most likely talking in his sleep. Squall narrowed his eyes, an outward gesture that gave away the inner-workings of his mind and showed what he was thinking as he attempted to decipher the nonsensical comment and figure out what the young candidate could be dreaming about, although he needn't have bothered… he should have guessed. "Lot's of mustard." Zell was dreaming about hotdogs.

_Figures, I suppose people like him can't be expected to have meaningful dreams._

Squall leaned his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes. What on earth had possessed him to fall asleep _here_? Why with _these_ two? He was surprised at himself. He shouldn't even have been able to relax.

Perhaps what the instructors had said earlier was true… perhaps the training was so exhausting that it simply tired Squall out, he did recall feeling faint. In reality, he really did feel like collapsing more than once during the course of that day.

Squall went with the excuse as justification for what had happened; he had no other way to explain it. He would somehow have to ensure that it wouldn't happen again.

He looked over to Zell and noticed his arm. On the spiky-haired blonde's wrist was a digital twenty four hour watch and by leaning forward a little, he was only-just able to make out the LED numbers.

It was just as he thought. It _was_ morning; he _had _been there all through the night. It was not too late though, he would not be late for his class. He decided that the best thing to do would be to get up now, before the other two woke up.

They would likely assume that he had left them there the night before and think nothing of it.

Squall carefully stood up, making sure to disturb the sleeping teenagers on either side of him as little as possible – to ensure that they did not wake.

Silently, carefully and respectfully, Squall walked slowly toward the exit at the other end of the scarlet room. As he slowly crept through the lounge, he was reminded of the comfort he felt the night before when he first saw the cosy interior – the warmth that radiated from the walls and floor still held him in a warm embrace.

Squall had never even seriously thought about coming into this room but being in here was not so bad. Selphie was right; it _was_ comfortable in the common room. Squall never would have guessed, he could never figure out why people came into these kinds of comfort rooms but when they were empty, quiet and peaceful it was actually…

"Heey!"

_The peace is over_.

"Where are you going?" asked Selphie.

"Huh… Hey, where are _you_ sneaking off to?" Zell added. Now they were _both_ awake.

Zell looked at his watch "We have over an hour before class starts. That leaves us with plenty of time to…" Zell paused for a long while. After some time had passed, a grin made its way onto his face. "I gotta go" he said, rising to his feet and rushing past Squall, leaving him with Selphie to question why _he_ hadn't thought to do the same.

"Where do you think _he's_ running off to?" Selphie asked.

Squall knew _exactly _where Zell was going in such a rush.

"Do you know?"

Squall nodded. "The Cafeteria, probably"

"Why, is he _that_ hungry?"

"Its… because of the hotdogs" Squall replied.

"Hotdogs?" asked Selphie.

Squall nodded again. "Ever since this Garden's cafeteria started selling hotdogs he's been determined to try one but so far, he's never gotten there fast enough."

'What do you mean 'fast enough?"

"They sell out fast, you'd be lucky just to see somebody eat one."

"Hotdogs, really… things really _are_ different here, my old Garden never sold that kind of food."

"They're new" Squall told her.

"Oh, really, what are they like?"

"I've never tried one" Squall shrugged.

"Why not?" asked Selphie, she seemed quite interested for some reason that Squall could not figure out, he shrugged again.

"I don't know, like I said before; they sell out fast. Zell is always running towards the cafeteria at full speed in hopes of one day trying one but even _he's_ been unsuccessful _so _far."

"I see, do you wanna go?" the girl asked.

"Go where?" Squall asked, responding to Selphie's question with another question.

"I dunno, anywhere! How about the cafeteria, lets see if Zell got one."

Squall knew what Selphie was referring to. She probably wanted to know if Zell had managed to get his hands on one of those elusive Galbadian snack-foods drowning in sauces.

"C'mon, let's go see… unless there's somewhere else you wanna go."

"Fine… whatever" Squall said. He didn't care. He still had a lot of time before he had to be in Quistis' class anyway.

He allowed Selphie to lead him to the den of socialization where Seed and SeeD Candidates would waste time, whittling the morning away playing cards, the minutes falling away like wood shavings as an intricate carving was made by steady hands and a sharp blade.

Just as Squall had suspected, Zell had failed _yet again_ to buy a hotdog. He wondered just how early one had to get up just to smell or taste one of those sought after luxury items. It was strange; Squall didn't think that the Cafeteria even opened for business exceptionally early.

The three of them sat in the cafeteria and watched some of the students play several games of Triple Triad – the collectible card game that had spread to the entire world like a pandemic, infecting child and adult alike. It was believed that Headmaster Cid _himself_ was an avid card player.

It wasn't as though time particularly _flew_ by when he did nothing but eventually, Squall found that it was time to go. He walked out silently, not saying a word, heading for his classroom.

He thought he would have some peace while he walked but Selphie and Zell seemed to have noticed his disappearance and followed behind him like a couple of stray dogs.

Even _with_ those two walking behind him, it _wasn't_ so bad He still managed to walk in silence and peace. He would have preferred the solitude of being alone but at least they weren't forcing him to talk to them like a middle-aged mother would force her young to recite pointless words and phrases to her worthless tea-guzzling upper-class country club membership card-holding group of friends as they chatted about how things were either 'nice' or 'disgusting.'

Soon enough, they had arrived and found that the door was already unlocked.

They walked into Instructor Trepe's classroom and saw that several students had already taken their seats. Seifer, Raijin and Fujin were there, along with a few others.

Squall took his usual seat while Selphie and Zell sat in the same place they had been sitting the day before.

"So where's the Instructor?" Zell asked Raijin.

"She was here before, ya know" he replied "but she went somewhere."

"Any idea where?" asked Zell.

"No, she just said that she'd be back soon enough, ya know."

Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, the last remaining students filed in one at a time until they were all there. The instructor eventually arrived as well and after apologising for her lateness, the class began.

Squall wondered what they would have to do, so far it had all been recaps and revision of topics covered in their _regular_ exams.

"…Alright, so I have no lesson plan for today…"

_Figures_

"But that doesn't mean we are to do nothing all morning. No, we are going to have a history discussion." Quistis followed standard teaching procedure and waited for the inevitable grumbles and murmurs to die down before she continued speaking. "Who among you is well informed about the war that ended seventeen years ago?"

Squall turned his head slightly and noticed the growing grin on Selphie's face.

"We covered this in Trabia" she whispered "we did a big unit on it."

"Well, does anyone know what country began the war?" No one spoke up. "Feel free to just call out the answer if you know it… I'm sure _someone_ must know."

"It was Esthar" Selphie answered.

"Good, do you know where that is?"

"Supposedly, it's supposed to be in the Far East, Esthar is a city but it is _so_ big that it is also a nation on its own."

"I heard that it was a city that occupied an entire nation and a country that took up an entire continent" another student replied.

"Yes" Quistis replied "you are both correct but do you know who was in charge of Esthar back then?"

"It was a sorceress named Adel" Selphie replied.

"And who is in charge _now_?"

"Now, uh… I don't know."

Quistis smiled. "No one does, shortly after the war ended; the continent of Esthar grew very quiet as if the entire nation had disappeared, perhaps in shame… although it is better to disappear than continue to exist while attempting to deny the truth." She sat down at her desk. "By the way Selphie, why are you so knowledgeable on this subject?"

"At my old Garden, we had to write a big essay on Esthar and the Sorceress war."

"I see…" Quistis mused "maybe _we_ should do that." She could only laugh at the response. These students were training to become SeeD but they _were_ only students after all. They were all between the ages of fifteen and nineteen. The majority of them were in their last teen years.

"You're giving us _homework_? We're not _junior_ _classmen_!"

"You will do what you are told" Quistis replied "I am your instructor… and besides, SeeD are expected to work in groups, this will be a good teambuilding exercise for you all. You are to work in pairs and write an essay about anything to do with the Sorceress War."

"How many words" Seifer asked.

"I won't make it too hard, five hundred minimum, due by the end of the month."

"Great… a month of working with Leonheart" Squall heard his rival, Seifer say sarcastically.

"You may choose your own partners, otherwise work with those that have been preassigned for you. If there is anyone left without a partner" Squall looked up and noticed that the instructor was staring strait at _him_ "Stay at the end of the class and I will pair you up."

Squall looked over to the far right and saw Seifer and Fujin sitting together. He assumed that those two would be working together.

"So, do you wanna be partners?"

Squall shrugged. "Fine" he agreed.

* * *

As Squall walked the ever-familiar path toward the training centre, he noticed that he was not the first person to arrive. Unlike the first day, Instructor P had arrived early and was awaiting his students.

Squall also noticed that the disciplinary committee had arrived before he did.

"Leonheart" greeted the instructor "I see you are on time."

Squall did nothing by way of reply and when he looked away he saw that Seifer was walking towards him.

"Leonheart, I noticed that you're not with the new girl. What happened, did Zell get jealous or something?"

Squall ignored him.

"What's _with_ the two of you anyway? I feel sorry for them… I mean everyone knows your using both of 'em just so you can experiment with your own sexuality."

Squall's eyes widened.

"What? Don't you like the sound of the truth? Look, let me give you some advice, you need to choose which life you're gonna lead, just think about it. Would you rather spend your life with someone like the scrawny new girl or the scrawny chicken shit?"

Squall narrowed his eyes into a glare. "Whatever" he said.

Seifer retorted with no words, only callous, crude, contemptuous laughter.

"What's up?" asked Selphie, who was just arriving. Several other Candidates walked in behind her.

"Looks like we're all present, good" P said. "Yesterday we were practicing hand-to-hand combat. I want you to try it again."

"What, why, what's the good in that?" Zell asked.

"Excuse me, Instructor" Xu said as she briskly strolled in, coming to a halt in front of P and saluting him "I'd like to make a change in the pairings."

"Really, what did you have in mind?"

Xu handed P a piece of paper. "This would only be temporary, of course."

P looked over the sheet of paper. "I see… very well, I'll allow it for now." He addressed the entire class. "Everybody gather around me and take a look at this, I want you to pair up in _these_ groups.

The class wasted no time in reorganising itself into the new partnerships that had been assigned. Squall saw that he was now partnered with Selphie. He didn't know if this was a good thing or not. On one hand, He preferred this arrangement as opposed to before when he had been forced to spend all of his training time with Seifer but on the other hand, considering Selphie's skill level, Squall felt sure that the level of difficulty for his training and ultimately – his results – would drop.

Before, Squall and Seifer had trained exclusively with each other and because they both used the same class of weapon, each presented a worthy challenge to the other. How could Squall fight with blade-on-nunchaku, would that even work or would it be like pitting a shortsword against a pistol?

Seifer and Raijin had been put together and were both fairly happy about the arrangement although not everyone could say they were satisfied. Fujin – for example, had allowed a look of disappointment to show on her face as she scrolled down the list with her eyes until they came to rest on her own name.

"Hey, I'm with Fujin again!" Zell exclaimed when he first found out.

Fujin remembered the outcome from the last time she had fought that hyperactive brawler. She simply hadn't the muscle density to compete with him in close combat; she was more of a tactician than a hands-on fighter, anyway.

In her defence, she had a pretty good throwing and had decent enough agility but lacked the skills for melee. This may wave been the one area in which she didn't excel.

"Are we all ready?" P asked his class. He waited for any hint of an objection. "Begin!" he ordered the class.

On his word, the class began fighting and not being one to hold anything back, Zell charged strait at Fujin at full speed in the form of a shoulder tackle. The force of the tackle was enough to send her flying backward through the air until she hit someone.

It was Seifer. He grabbed her arm and helped her up without a word and quickly turned around to face his opponent, making sure that he wouldn't be caught off guard by his larger Acauldian opponent.

Raijin had more strength, that much was obvious, that's why he was the 'muscle' of Seifer's posse. The Acauldian charged at Seifer, swinging his right fist towards the blonde's torso.

Seifer simply stood still, not making any unnecessary movements and not wasting any energy, not moving a single muscle until he had to.

Just as Raijin's fist was coming close to making contact, Seifer jumped backward and in the time it took for Raijin to react, Seifer had his counter attack ready. He quickly circled around the Acauldian until he was standing behind him and with a well placed kick, managed to knock him down.

Raijin may have been stronger, but Seifer was faster and had better reflexes. From Seifer's point of view, Raijin's strength was in levels of excess. For Seifer's fighting style, he had strength enough. He didn't need to be a bodybuilder, excess weight hampered movement in high-speed combat anyway.

To the left of Seifer, Fujin was fairing about as well as she had expected to against Zell. She could match neither his strength nor his agility. She fought the best whilst keeping at a distance from her opponent but without the use of weapons, tools or magic, that just was not possible.

Her right arm hung limply at her side. It wasn't broken but had blocked a lot of punches and her right leg had gone numb from blocking the blonde fighter's low-to-mid level attacks.

Fujin saw the brawler running toward her ready to attack her again. She let out a sigh and ran towards him, closing the gap in an attempt to prevent him from building up too much speed.

They were so close, if Fujin's next little trick didn't work then she knew for sure that she would be knocked unconscious. While still running, she leaned backward and allowed her leg to slip forward in front of her. She slid toward her foe and managed to trip him slightly before he was able to react.

While his guard was momentarily dropped, Fujin sprung back up to her feet and launched a series of rapid open-palm punches into Zell's punching bag of a body. She didn't stop her assault until the blonde's body had hit the floor.

"I think we can stop there" P instructed.

Zell quickly stood up and awaited the class' next instruction.

Fujin merely looked back on the fight, looking over her movements, trying to see how she could improve. The next time she fought hand-to-hand, she wanted to do a little better, not that she hadn't improved already, on the contrary, she had done far better than she could have hoped against an opponent who outclassed her in this particular field. The only thing bothering her was the thought of a similar occurrence in a real battle with no 'time outs.' Had that been a real battle, who knows what might have happened.

To be locked in combat with a superior opponent with no allies, no weapon and no magic, this was a difficult scenario for Candidates to comprehend. Who knows what would happen to them on a difficult mission? SeeD were expendable. The contract and the client were the only things that mattered. The mission was all that mattered, as long as it was completed, Garden received payment.

* * *

On the darkened streets of the city that never sleeps, a certain Galbadian general rode in a limousine to a certain destination. He looked out the black-tinted window to the streets outside. He had told his driver to simply drive around Deling City until it was time for his meeting with the president.

At that moment, they were driving past the shopping arcade which was – as usual – packed with people. If these people were units of water in a porcelain bowl, they would be overflowing onto the floor.

"Should we head for the President's residence now, sir?" asked his personal bodyguard and chauffeur.

"Yes" the general replied.

"Alright then, we should be coming up to it now, General Caraway."

Caraway turned his attention back to the people lining the streets in blissful ignorance. _These poor fools have no idea what's going on, they don't have a clue, none whatsoever. _They actually thought they were safe and secure, strapped inside the juggernaut that was the republic of Galbadia.

They never could have conceived that they could all be in danger. The last decade had been peaceful, but the occupation in timber had been going rough lately and with the President's talk of starting a new operation…

Galbadia was spreading its forces too thin, trying to do too many things at once. Why, the logical thing to do was to focus on one priority at a time, finish one operation and _then_ move on to the next, even if he were to wait until the new recruits were fully trained, at least then they could feel secure. At least they could have insurance from any hostile attack.

"Sir, we're here" Caraway's guard announced.

They had all but arrived and the car slowed down as it came closer to its destination, eventually coming to a halt outside a massive complex surrounded by a large impenetrable wall that went all the way around accepting a gap at the front the size of two road lanes.

The gap was filled by a tall iron gate that began opening automatically as the limousine came into a close proximity.

The gate slowly opened with both sides turning on their hinges, coming forward, creating a gap in the middle for the car to drive through.

The limousine drove into the complex and the gate slowly closed behind it. Caraway's guard drove the car slowly and carefully on the paved ground surrounding the President's home.

He drove around the building, all the time staying close to the wall until he arrived at the back of the mansion where a roller door half submerged under the ground opened, revealing a hidden underground drive-way.

The car drove in through the passage and the roller door closed behind it, blocking out any outside light sources. Fluorescent lights on the tunnel's ceiling turned on as the car approached and off as it departed, ensuring that the car – as well as the space of two metres in front and behind – were constantly illuminated in a hard blue-white hue.

After minutes of driving through this downhill tunnel, they eventually arrived in a vast area of emptiness. There was nothing in sight, save for a few parked cars and evenly distributed support columns.

Caraway's guard found a place to park the car, turned off the engine and stepped out into the cold basement. He walked around the car and opened the door for his employer. Caraway stepped out and backed away from the car as his bodyguard closed the door.

Caraway looked at his watch. Despite taking a lap around the city, they sere still exceedingly early. "Do you think the President will be ready for us?" he asked his guard.

"One would assume so" the guard replied.

"Then we had better get going, we don't want to make him wait."

"Yes sir."

Caraway walked first, while his bodyguard followed, making sure to stay exactly two paces behind the General at all times. They walked to the end of the large concrete void when they saw two more guards wearing uniforms of the Galbadian military walking toward them.

"General Caraway, President Deling is expecting you. Please, come this way" one of them said, turning around to lead the way. Caraway walked behind him while his guard walked behind _him_, side by side with the second soldier.

The group of soldiers walked back toward the elevator that was waiting to take them up to the mansion. The elevator car had a simple design. It was not too extravagant. The exterior was silver while the interior was white. The floor and dado were lined with red carpet.

The ride itself was smooth, as apposed to commercial elevators that jerked and shoved about the contents of passenger's stomachs about as though they were riding an escalator.

Once they had arrived on the first floor of the house, the guards escorted them to the conference room, where all of the President's meetings were held.

"You two can wait in here" the guards said "The president will be with you momentarily." They left Caraway alone with his bodyguard in the conference room. They closed and locked the door as they departed.

_In other words, we are here until it suits Vinzor_ Caraway thought. He didn't like being early or late, he liked punctuality. He liked arriving at precisely the right time. Being late was a sign of sloppy timekeeping, as was being early.

It was such a big waste of time, but the President seemed to be running late in everything he did recently. He seemed to be getting exceedingly preoccupied with his duties lately. It was _quite_ worrying to be uncertain of one's leader.

"So what do you think this meeting is about?" Caraway's guard asked him.

Caraway gave a sigh. He was wearing an expensive suit and white gloves, as he always did when attending these meetings. "Most likely" he said "the President wants to discus this new operation he's so excited about."

"How do you feel about that?"

"I think it's a bad idea."

"Oh?"

Caraway walked toward his guard – who was sitting in a chair – so he didn't have to talk across the room. He sat down in the chair next to his guard. "We simply don't have the military strength that we used to."

"What about our new recruits?"

"It's not like it was twenty years ago. Our soldiers simply don't have the moral and urgency that they used to, I guess it can't be helped considering the state of the world, I mean it _is_ peacetime and everything… just look at the current state of Timber, _that_ particular operation went _horribly_ wrong."

His guard nodded.

"The war ended and here _we _were still grabbing territory. Thirteen years ago, we were at war with resistance groups, especially the Forest Chocobos. _That_ went horribly wrong as well."

"How do you think we could inspire the army then?"

"There is only one thing that can unite and galvanise an army."

"And what is that?"

"Hatred…" Caraway replied "warfare."

"So then war is a good thing?"

Caraway shot a slightly angry look towards his bodyguard.

"I mean good for the military, of course."

"No, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that at all, unnecessary conflict does little more than breed anger and cause more anti-Galbadian attitudes amongst the civilians."

"I know what you mean. Patriotism has been going downhill since the end of the war, especially in teenagers and young adults."

Caraway nodded. One unpatriotic rebellious teenager in particular came to mind. Behind them, a sound could be heard unlocking. The two men turned around in time to see the door opening and behind it, President Deling.

"So sorry to keep you waiting" the President said. He walked in to the room, leaving the door wide open behind him. "I've decided to call in the other council members for our meeting. You don't mind, do you?"

"No" Caraway replied. Something deadly serious was going on. The president wasn't saying anything but there _was_ something going on. There was something in the air, something rancid. "Mister President, if I may ask, why have you decided to assemble the secret council for a simple military report meeting?"

President Deling sneered. "Oh my, you've caught on. This is _not_ an ordinary meeting. It is a very _extraordinary_ meeting. I must introduce you to someone. This is a very important someone. This someone is the key to my master scheme."

"Oh, and what scheme might that be?"

"My scheme to achieve world peace, of course" Deling replied.

"And who might this person be?"

"Our ambassador, this person will do all the legwork and represent us as our ambassador of peace as she confronts the world's leaders. With her help, we can finish what should have been finished so long ago. We can end what should have ended thirteen years ago. We can finally end the occupation in Timber. We will soon acquire the power to control those pesky resistance factions… It is a pity though. I only wish that you could control that girl."

"That girl, you mean Rinoa?"

"Yes, that's right. It is such an awful shame that you couldn't contain her. It _is_ funny though, isn't it? You can give orders to a grand army, although you can't control one spoiled little girl?"

"I'm sorry but I fail to see what she has to do with any of this."

"Intelligence tells us that she is in Timber with a small resistance faction."

Caraway froze in shock. "That… that can't be, that foolish girl left in a vain fit of rebellion but she's not political, she _never_ has been."

"Is that so, tell me, does the name Kane mean anything to you?"

"Wha…? Yes, it does."

The president walked over to his desk in the back of the room and withdrew a large photograph and handed it to Caraway, whose eyes widened in anger as he instantly recognised the people in the photograph.

_What the hell? Rinoa, Kane, the wild one…_

"This was taken a year ago. Needless to say, the wild one and his entire gang were killed… although Rinoa seemed to survive with no injury."

_Kane… what does he want with… hasn't he screwed us around enough, what the hell is he doing with her?"_

"Kane has been a thorn in our side for far too long, even our Marines lost their lives to him."

"What about Rinoa?"

"She's still with the resistance."

"And Kane?"

"We don't know. He seems to have completely disappeared off the face of the Earth."

Caraway's eyes were then drawn to the door where a mysterious looking woman entered the room. She wore a long purple dress that draped down to the floor and most mysterious of all, a dark metal mask that concealed her entire face.

"General Caraway" the president said "Let me introduce you to our ambassador… meet Sorceress Edea."

Caraway's eyes instantly widened in shock "so-sorceress, a-are you serious?"

The Sorceress slowly walked closer toward the general. "You should be careful, you don't want to risk angering me, do you?" she threatened, her voice deeper than the average female.

"But… Mister President, what is the meaning of this? Do you intend to replay past battles? What is the point of re-enacting the Sorceress war with Galbadia playing the part of the conquering army under the Sorceress' command?"

The president let out a deeply conceited laugh. "You seem to be a little confused, my old friend. Sorceress Edea is not here to spread conflict; she is here to end it. With her help, we will finally have the power we need to put an end to the fighting."

"But with all due respect sir, the Sorceress creates unrest among the people. Knowing this, how are we to create peace?"

"The same way we always have" the Sorceress interjected "the ultimate goal of war is to attain peace, is it not? Resistance must be stepped on. There are always those who oppose the righteous, preferring to live in their own little world of fantasy where they can pretend to be in control of their little lives. These people are not willing to make the appropriate sacrifices and must in turn, be destroyed."

"Wait a minute…"

"We are here to end the battles and put a stop to anti-Galbadian resistance groups once and for all, anyone who gets in the way of that must be crushed! Surely as a great military leader, you of all people can understand and appreciate what we are doing."

Before Caraway could even begin to reply he was distracted by the sound of people approaching the room. "I hope the meeting hasn't started already" said one of the approaching men. "Are we late?"

"No, of course not" the President answered "Come in and join us, you are just in time."

The other members of the secret council filed into the room. This was a council unknown to the world, like the Marines. Only those on the council were aware if its existence. The people assembled in this room were the _real_ rulers of Galbadia.

They operated in secret, attending meetings to discus matters that the general public need not know about. These matters were best kept secret. Their discovery would do little more than cause worry, panic and hysteria amongst the ignorant masses.

Caraway was on good terms with most of the other council members and could almost predict their general reaction upon hearing the President's plans.

There was a council member for each necessity of the nation. Military, economy, maintenance, education and population, these aspects, among others were all covered by a member of this council.

"Alright, this meeting may now officially begin. I am sure that you have all noticed that I have made an addition to our council." The President said, turning to face the Sorceress. "Introduce yourself."

"I am the new ambassador of peace. I will create peace between Galbadia and other nations."

"How?" demanded Martine, the master of Galbadia Garden, one of the council members. "Our popularity in the public eye seems as though it decreases with each passing month. After all these years, Timber still continues to oppose us. There will surely be others who join them. How then do you intend to get them to agree with our point of view?"

"I will _force_ them to agree."

"And that is how you plan to invoke peace? Through violence, do you intend to dominate and control those other nations? That is not peace. That is Dominion. That is forced control. That is oppression. That is occupation. You would be doing little more than spreading the situation in Timber to the rest of the world!"

"Trust me… my methods of persuasion are _very_ effective."

"Oh… and why is that?"

The president began laughing again. "Because" he said, still laughing "because she's… she's a Sorceress!" At that instant, the council members' bodies seized up, their faces frozen with the memories of the past, the nightmare of a war that engulfed the entire world and steered it towards chaos with the terrifying Sorceress Adel at the helm.

Caraway looked around to his fellow council members and took in the looks on their faces. They were just what he had expected them to be. He saw the looks of distrust and bewilderment in their eyes but most of all he saw shock and surprise as if to ask what their President was thinking.

Their thoughts were fair enough, Caraway was thinking along the same lines, after all. The president knew what it was like to face against a nation controlled by a Sorceress, what was he thinking, was he _really_ that foolish, or was he being controlled? Could the Sorceress do that, perhaps she had the power to manipulate people. If so, then surely controlling the mind of one man would be simple.

_No, it can't be, President Deling is acting in perfect character. If he had been brainwashed, there should be some kind of sign, like a slur or anything characteristically different._

There was nothing.

"This is… madness" Martine said.

"Do you think so?" Deling asked arrogantly.

"Tell me, sir?" Caraway asked.

"Hmm?" the president asked.

"What exactly does this have to do with our next military operation?"

"What operation?" Martine asked. The tell-tale expressions on the faces of the other council members proved that they too, had been conveniently left out of the loop.

"Our assault on the Dollet Dukedom" the President answered smugly.

"Dollet?" asked Martine "but why, why them? Why now?"

"Because" Caraway said "they have what we want… or rather, what President Deling requires, isn't that right Mister President?"

"What is it, what do they have?" asked Martine.

"It's _their_ plot, not mine. I only know what I've been told. If you have questions, you'd best direct them to the _President_."

Deling narrowed his eyes, sending a somewhat threatening glance toward his associate.

Remembering his place, Caraway saluted the President. "I'm sorry sir, please forgive the nature of my words on this, it is not my place to judge your actions and decisions."

"You are right" the Sorceress said, walking towards him and as she did so, Caraway felt a shiver run down his spine, the like of which would occur in an unfortunate black pawn standing in the destructive path of the white queen in a game of chess. "You have _no_ right to speak to the President that way! _Your_ job is to rally the soldiers based the orders given to you. You may be a commander but that does not necessarily mean that you are in control of everything around you. There are people above you who see things that _your_ fragile little mind could not begin to handle."

"Sorceress, that is enough" Deling said "While General Caraway's conduct was out of line, I'm sure that he has an explanation." His eyes narrowed "don't let it happen again" he threatened sternly.

As soon as Deling looked away, Caraway shot a glance toward Martine, who returned it, each telling the other that they both happened to be thinking along the same lines. Something had to be done before the world was once again ravaged and pillaged by the destructive forces of magic.

This sort of thing had already happened to the world two times already, first with Hyne and then second with Adel. Could they really afford to do nothing, could they really just stand idly by while this happened yet again?

"General Caraway, are you listening?" the President asked.

Caraway's eyes snapped out of their glaze.

"_This_ is your great general?" the Sorceress scorned "I'm disappointed, I thought you could produce better, Vinzor."

Deling smiled. "I think we can conclude this meeting, there is nothing more to gain and nothing more to learn. We shall meet again soon… General Caraway, could you stay, I need to speak with you privately. Your bodyguard will have to wait outside as well, I'm afraid.

The men walked out of the room, leaving only three people remaining.

"So what do you want to talk to me about?" Caraway asked.

"The Sorceress and I both wish to speak with you privately about the upcoming operation."

"You mean the Dollet Assault."

The president grinned once more. Caraway felt sure that the Sorceress' face – hidden under her metal veil shared the ominous grin. Deling carried the smile a while longer as he approached the General. "Precisely" he hissed.


	12. Chapter XII The Art of Magic

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era:**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. Original characters and names belong to me. All names, places and characters relating to Final fantasy belong to Square-Enix.

**Author's Notes:** It's been a long time since I last updated, I know and it will likely be another long time before I update again. I'm sorry but this story just isn't my highest priority anymore even though it is my first. If more people show interest in it (expressed most appreciatively in reviews) then maybe I'll make updates for this story more of a priority. I personally at least try to review every story I read and if I'm subscribed to it, I try to review each new chapter… especially if it's a long one (by long I include anything over a few thousand words.) Before I get into the actual story I just want to say something. This chapter has perhaps the longest action sequence I have ever written and those of you who have read my Gundam Seed story 'Seeds Sown under the Earth's Crust' may already know that action sequences are not my specialty. Any kind of feedback would be greatly appreciated. I've changed the battle system quite a bit and it may at times seem almost like it takes references from anime like Naruto and Dragonball.

**Chapter XII – The Art of Magic**

The Instructor – known only by his students as the letter P – walked into the Training centre for the fourth time that day. He was carrying a large box in his arms. There were several boxes just like it littering the floor, and around these boxes stood his puzzled students. He placed the box down on the ground with all the others and turned to meet the bewildered youthful faces of his class. "Today" he said − his lip curled upward into an eager smile as he spoke – "I will teach you to use magic." One arm instantly raised itself above the heads of the crowd.

"I already know all this" Seifer spoke in an arrogant drawl. This display of overconfidence only broadened the man's snide display of fervour.

"Is that so?" he asked, charging the spiritual energy within his body. He summoned up this mystical energy. He drew it out, shaped it and moulded it in his mind. As he did so, his natural aura changed, giving away his intentions. His aura − normally white, calm, still and invisible – now suddenly flared around him and changed colour. It now flickered around him like a flame, rising a little above his head, glowing faintly with a dim blue hue. The Instructor's aura subsided as he concentrated the energy into a ball in his palm. Once he had formed it the energy turned a darker shade of blue and froze over – forming an ice-ball.

"You would use ice against the greatest fire-mage in Balamb Garden?" Seifer sneered. He concentrated his spirit energy the way his Instructor had although his own aura was a little weaker. "Fire!" he cried as the summoned energy formed itself into a fireball which he hurled toward his Instructor as hard as he could. His face was a mask of conceited glee as his level sixteen fire spell – the most powerful first tier fire spell possible – flew toward the experienced SeeD. It would hit him before he even got his ice-ball airborne.

The Instructor identified only as P sneered a little more. Even if this punk _was_ the Master's favourite, a little public humiliation wouldn't go amiss. Lowering the arrogant ass' ego a little would do him well. It was good character building. Being a SeeD, he had increased the power of his mind and spirit beyond the necessity of yelling out the names of spells. Like all SeeD, he could do it all inside his head. That _used_ to be a requirement but not anymore. If the difficulty of the field exam were reduced any lower they'd be about as powerful as the G Army. Without uttering a word, he launched the ice ball.

The palm-sized ball of ice rocketed from the Instructor's hand on its way toward Seifer – whose arrogant face instantly lost its gleeful grin as he was finally struck hard across the face with the inevitability of the situation. He didn't even have time to move. It happened too fast. The ice-ball sped toward him, cutting strait through the fire that fizzled and died out. Seifer's eyes widened in horror at what he was seeing and his mouth fell open. _"What the hell?"_ he thought _"ice is supposed to be the slowest moving spell, isn't it? I thought fire was one of the fastest, beaten only by wind and lightning."_ Seifer had no time to react as the ice-ball hit him hard in the abdomen, sending him flying backward, stopping only after hitting someone who had been standing behind him and as such, causing said person to fall to the ground as well. A quick glance behind confirmed that it was Raijin. The two quickly stood. "What was that?" Seifer said after regaining his composure. "Our spells were the same strength. Fire and Ice are opposing elements. That should have been a draw. Why did yours beat mine? What made your paramagic stronger?"

"Our spells were of the same strength, tier one, level sixteen. The reason why I won should be obvious to everyone here."

"What?"

"You are simply inferior."

"What?!!" Utterly unfazed by Seifer, the Instructor completely ignored him as he addressed the class.

"So tell me, do the rest of you know how to use magic?" When no one responded, he continued. "Am I correct in assuming that you haven't quite gotten that far in your morning classes?" His question was greeted by a series of simultaneous nods and murmurs. "I thought so." _I figured as much. Trepe's letting them fall behind again._ "Well, that's all right. We'll take this slowly and simply. These boxes you see before you…" he said, indicating the boxes he had brought in with him. The students all looked around at the various boxes. All were similar but not quite the same. They would have been identical, save for the difference in colour. They were all colour-coded and it was assumed that they would likely have different contents – why else would they be coloured. As it turned out, the assumption would be correct. "These boxes are all filled with stones." Again he waited for a response.

"_Stones?"_ thought Squall.

"Stones?" sounded Selphie's whispered voice from behind him. A few others did the same… and then from behind…

"Stones, what the hell, what are we gonna throw 'em or something?" This was Zell's wise comment. These were the brawler's magical words of mystical wisdom. One other voice could be heard.

"Dumbass," Seifer muttered, insulting Zell for his ignorance.

Instructor P merely chuckled. "Obviously, these are no ordinary stones. They are magic stones."

"Magic?" Zell asked.

P nodded. "Magical stones like these can sometimes be found lodged into the hides of certain monsters. The stronger the magic inside the monster; the bigger the stone and the more power it can hold. Basically, what we are going to do today is use different kinds of magic stones to see which spells you can use more effectively. For example, I myself am an ice user. Seifer here is a fire user, as he previously pointed out. Everybody come up and grab a stone and we can get started" he instructed.

The students did as they were told and walked up to each box one by one to pick out one of each type of stone before returning back to their initial positions and placing the stones at their feet. Within two minutes each and every student had their stones ready and had their eyes fixed on those of their instructor, listening intently for the man's next instruction, every student except the three in the front: Seifer and his tag-along friends: Raijin and Fujin.

Seifer simply stood strait and tall, a bored expression corrupting his features. He allowed his arms – which had been dangling at his sides – to rise to his chest and cross over one-another. His expression turned from bored, to irritated, to increasingly infuriated, as the intolerable silence dragged on. Needless to say, patience was _not_ one of his virtues.

Instructor P merely widened his grin once more. He knew that all this waiting around would be _killing_ Seifer. "Very well… everyone take a magic stone in your right palm and try to feel the energy within."

"I already know all this" Seifer impatiently interjected. "Do I really need to be here?" P unknowingly dropped his smile. Seifer's attitude was really starting to bug him. "I think my time could be more efficiently spent elsewhere."

"No" P replied "Just wait. I need to explain this to the other students. When I'm done, you can practice. Although you may be a good magic user, considering your experience it is also a fact that you have definitive room for improvement. Even though you have mastered the fire spell, the spirit energy inside your body is not yet as strong as it could be." Seifer failed to hide the resulting glare at the Instructor's comment. "This class will be part of your training. As a member of SeeD it will be your obligation to become as strong as you possibly can."

"What are we supposed to do?" Selphie whispered. Squall turned to face her and saw the unadulterated confusion in her eyes. The SeeD Candidate then lost all hope. If Selphie didn't know what to do then how the hell was _he_ supposed to?"

"Tilmitt isn't it?" the Instructor asked as he walked up to where Selphie, Zell and Squall were standing.

"Ah, yeah" Selphie replied.

"Didn't you Transfer from Trabia?"

"Yeah that's me."

"And you're telling me you don't know what to do? I thought you'd be a master at this technique. Shouldn't you have done this a month ago? Even _if_ Trabia focuses more on the physical aspect of training you should still be able to draw energy from a magical artefact."

"Yeah, well… actually, at Trabia we never _did_ this."

"Really?" the Instructor asked, bemused.

"Yeah, we went strait to spiritual connections… I mean I could draw it out from a low-level monster, no problem."

"I see. So Trabia skipped this step altogether. Well, making a physical connection is much the same as a spiritual one. It works on the same basic principle and in fact is a little easier to accomplish. All you have to do is touch the object and try to feel the energy within. Just think of it as a sixth sense.

_Sixth sense?_ Squall thought. He watched as Selphie closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the red palm-sized round stone in her hand. Nothing happened at first but then after a brief interlude Squall felt a change in the air as Selphie's aura picked up. It began at the core of her torso and spread outward. It flared up and turned blue just like it had done for Seifer.

"I-I can feel it" she said "It's hot… it's burning… its fire… it burns… it burns!" the pace of her breathing increased at a steady rate and she let out an anxious moan of pain as though she were being scolded or burned. She began to panic. Squall narrowed his eyes in an attempt to see what was wrong but was distracted by the Instructor beside him making a knowing grunting sound. The brunette turned to face him.

"It hurts doesn't it?" P sympathised, to which Selphie could only give another high-pitched moan. "There's nothing I can do to help. Your gonna have to get through this on your own. Don't worry. I know how painful this kind of think can be." Painful seemed to be an understatement considering the current state Selphie seemed to be in. It was surprising the girl could respond at all.

"What the hell happened?" Zell asked. "W-what's wrong with her?"

"Do you know what kind of magic stone she's using?" P asked. Zell took one look at Selphie's stone which seemed to be glowing red.

"Fire?" he guessed.

"Right and as painful as it may be, this is by no means an unheard of injury."

_Injury?_ Squall thought. What was wrong?"

"The magic has taken form inside her body" P explained.

"So?" Zell asked dumbfounded. "SeeD always go into battle with magic inside them, don't they?"

"This is a little different… but we don't have time to talk about it now. If we wait too long…" P trailed off gravely and turned to face Selphie. "The fire inside you is currently burning. As we speak, your organs and tissue are being used as a fuel. I'm sure you can feel the burning within you. This is a critical problem of the utmost consequence but you'll be just fine as long as you act immediately. If you don't wish be barbecued from the inside out then you must force the fire out of your body. Understand? You must get it out of your body by _any_ means necessary."

"How's she s'posed to do that?" Zell asked. P merely grinned.

"Have you ever had Timberian Takeaway?" he joked.

Between them the girl in question allowed her eyes to close once more and flung her head back. Squall's eyes remained on her throat as it constricted and her body gave several aggressive heaves. She looked as though she were about to vomit. "Good" P said "Now… force it out." Instinctively and violently Selphie opened her mouth and flung her head forward hard as a massive ball of fire emerged from her orifice and shot forward.

P managed to push Squall out of the way of ball's flight path, saving him from being incinerated on the spot. The fireball sped past them all leaving a line of fire trailing behind it like a comet's tail. The trail began spinning like an infernal horizontal tornado.

"The flamethrower technique…" the Instructor uttered while deep in thought "even though it was an accident… it's been such a long time since I've seen one done like that. Such size… such power… the form was perfect." He turned to Selphie once more. "If you could perfect that and use it as an attack on command you could become a great asset to Garden." Selphie didn't have the energy to respond. She didn't have the energy to do much more than stand up. She struggled to remain standing, her mouth agape, tongue hanging out. She panted for breath. If she were a caricature, she would probably have smoke rising from her throat. "Here, try this one next" P said, tossing another stone at her.

The stone flew through the air strait into Selphie's outstretched hand. Her fingers greedily closed around the item, pressing into her palm. The majority of her body remained lifeless and still like that of a corpse but her arm remained outstretched. As soon as the stone touched the girl's skin, it began to glow white and Selphie's blue aura instantly flared up once more.

"Good" the Instructor said "Now this one is a little different but just follow your instincts and your next action should become clear. Allow the magical energy to overflow and spill out but don't try to direct it anywhere. Instead, just have the magic from the stone expand and intensify your aura. Let it engulf you. Trust me. You'll feel a lot better when you do.

Selphie concentrated on the energy within the stone, focusing it and infusing it with her own life-force. She could feel the energy enveloping her and rather than resisting she simply allowed it to consume her and almost instantly felt a cooling sensation all over her body as the healing power of a cure spell flowed through her body, healing the burned tissue within her.

After the magic had done its job, Selphie's aura died down and she opened her eyes, feeling better than she had before entering the class.

"So, are you felling better then?" the Instructor asked. Selphie smiled and flung her arms out.

"Just great" she said. Instructor P smirked.

"You should have a chat with Spitfire" he informed her.

"Who's Spitfire?"

P chuckled amusedly. "I can't do _all_ the work _for_ you. You need to find this person on your own." he smirked even more at Selphie's reaction as what he said finally registered. "Don't worry, chances are that this person will appear before you in due time."

"So why should me and this person meet?"

"Spitfire is my greatest prodigy so far and a genius with fire-type black paramagic. Spitfire also has the ability to use the flamethrower technique but even so, its power is a mere shadow in comparison to yours."

"But… that was just a fluke, right? And besides, it nearly killed me!"

"Indeed" P laughed "and I must warn you never to use that technique again… but with proper training you could perfect the art and use it at any time. It would make an extremely powerful weapon." He then turned to Squall "Alright Leonheart, let's see what _you_ can do."

As the lesson progressed the class tried out many different types of basic paramagic ranging from black to white and even the slightly more complicated green style. By the time the class had ended Instructor P had a fair idea of each person's magical capabilities and was able to give them stocks of the appropriate spells.

As it turned out, Selphie was quite proficient with all types of magic but excelled like none other when it came to Green paramagic – status affecting type. This would make her extremely useful on covert missions since she would be able to send out silence and sleep spells, among others. This would make her the optimum choice as a distraction or for stall tactics. Unfortunately, as it turned out her body was quite weak – meaning she simply would _not_ survive in close combat. Luckily, a well placed sleep spell could potentially minimise that weakness so it did not become too much of a burden. Zell on the other hand was the complete opposite. With his muscular build he relished in hand to hand combat but was completely hopeless at anything relating to paramagic. Seifer was clearly most adept with fire-type black paramagic. Raijin was a Lightning type and Fujin was wind but since all three of them had taken the exam before, P already knew this and as for Squall…

The brunette held the red stone in his palm and combined the energy within the stone itself with the intangible power he didn't even know existed inside his own soul. He could feel his own aura rising up above him. He didn't see it as he had done with Seifer and Selphie, rather he could feel the energy spinning − or more accurately − churning around him. It felt like an exhilarating breeze blowing around and circling him and only him. The rush of power was almost overwhelming. He outstretched his empty palm and felt the arc of his refreshing radiation increase exponentially.

To Squall it was a sense of power like none other but from the outside an experienced eye could see the raw energy for exactly what it was – a threat. Squall had accessed the spiritual energy required to unleash paramagic but was failing to focus it. Right now it was like a wildfire threatening to crush literally _everything_ in its path. It was indeed an impressive power but without discipline and control it was completely useless.

"Yeah, Squall! Waytago!" Selphie encouraged the brunette as raw unfocussed paramagic continued to arc around him. Little did she know that even if the arc had discontinued growing in size, simply having it around him could potentially drain the entirety of his spirit.

"Yo!" Zell agreed, "look how big that energy is! You're even better than Seifer!"

_No he's not!_ P argued inside his head. The Instructor knew what was going on but as for these kids… they were ignorant. This was a clear sign that they were not being taught well by Trepe. _No surprises there,_ he thought. She was too young to ever be given an Instructor's licence. "Everyone step back," he warned.

"Huh, why?" Zell asked and as he did so the aura gathered around Squall instantly swelled, gaining monumental size, strength and speed.

_Shit, he's completely lost control, the damned fool._ P looked strait into the brunettes deep blue eyes and tried to gain his attention. "Leonheart!" he snapped "you're loosing control of that power! Come on!" he exclaimed, his anger rising "pay attention!" This wasn't working. The Instructor doubted whether Squall could even hear him. "Damn it Leonheart!" Squall's eyes suddenly snapped to his Instructor and focused. A look of determination locked itself into his features. Maybe there was still a chance to turn this around before it killed the young fool. "You have to control it Leonheart. Don't let it overwhelm you!" The aura surrounding Squall neither shrunk nor grew, but it began to slow and in a word – harden.

The excess spiritual energy began to gather and concentrate at one single location outside of the SeeD candidate's body. P allowed a smile to show on his face as he felt the atmosphere grow colder by the second. It seemed the Garden Master was quite mistaken. Perhaps this boy _wasn't_ so useless after all. In fact _everyone_ here seemed to have much more talent than expected. Untapped and untrained it may have been but all the same, the potential was there.

Squall's aura gathered around its new location like a space rock sling-shooting around and shifting orbit to a different planet. The energy massed and formed a giant ice-ball… no, more like an ice-_boulder_. The damn thing was _huge_. It was much bigger than the one P had used against Seifer in their little demonstration and it wasn't even done yet. It was still growing.

Zell and Selphie could only stand and watch in awe until the magical boulder of ice was complete. When it was done Squall sent it flying toward the rest of the class. It moved slowly at first but soon its velocity built up like a freight train pulling away from its starting point on the way to deliver its goods, traveling solely on the force of its inertia. Soon the boulder was speeding along its way toward its intended target – Seifer's oversized head.

Instead of shattering on contact like most ice spells would the boulder remained intact. The density of it was so immense that it actually acted more like earth than ice. It was strange. The aftermath of such an attack led to nothing other than total chaos but luckily for him, Squall was far too exhausted to even notice. As soon as the attack hit Squall's aura began to die down and he dropped to his knees, straining for breath.

P approached him. "Not bad, Leonheart" he commended "It seems you are like me, a highly proficient ice user." _Just as I suspected,_ he added inside his head _he and Seifer are complete opposites in every sense of the word, like two different sides of the same coin._ The Instructor's smile faded. "All of you seriously need to practice this some more. It's lucky this is just training. If it were a real battle, you'd all be dead!" Zell and Selphie both froze stiff at the gravity of the situation – it was not easy being told such news. Squall merely nodded in complete understanding. The Instructor may have been one of the strictest in Garden but Squall was also pretty tough on himself – especially when facing one of his many failures. "On the other hand…" P said, trying to end on a positive note "if you keep at it and perfect those techniques, you could become powerful SeeD and indispensable assets to Garden." He gave Squall a fresh ice stone and tossed two new magic stones to Selphie. "Keep at it" he told them "Persevere, this time is precious. Use it well. Before you know it the final exam will be upon you and you all need to train as much as possible." He then left them to it, walking away to observe others in the class.

Zell left soon after to begin fighting with Fujin, swallowing hard as he walked. Needless to say, he was not looking forward to the outcome. With physical hand-to-hand combat he could easily outmatch his training partner – Fujin – but with magic it was a completely different story. For all the strength that Zell had over Fujin, she had just as big an advantage over the brawler in the massive field of paramagic. Now he knew how she must have felt in their previous training session. He sighed out a heavy breath full of air. _"Oh well"_ he thought _Fujin has gotten lucky on me a few times. I can do the same._ Zell confidently punched his fists together, his resolve held tightly in his teeth. _I can do this, I still have a chance to beat her in her own field._ He chuckled a little at his own pep talk. He was pretty fast after all. There was always the option of evading her spells. Fire and ice were easy to dodge. The others were a little harder but not impossible. "Alright, let's do this," he muttered to himself as he approached his partner. Fujin eyed him and nodded her head in acknowledgement and to show him she was ready to begin. Zell punched his fists together a couple more times and gestured for Fujin to go first – not the wisest thing to do. Fujin charged her blue aura and let loose her wind-type black paramagic – she had it stocked so hadn't bothered to use the available magic stones – and as soon as she did, Zell realised his mistake. Wind was similar to earth and both were near impossible to avoid.

The rest of the class was spent training and in the corner, Squall and Selphie were no exception. Their training bout would not be one of deathly importance nor would it be a grand display of fracas expertise, particularly since they were both partially drained from their previous attempts at casting magic. Squall began by creating an ice-rock from the spiritual energy inside the ice-stone. As soon as it was done, he sent it flying toward Selphie who easily dodged it. Squall sent two more ice-balls on their way, one after the other but the brunette girl was able to evade these as well.

Selphie kept her training partner in her sight the entire time as she hastily circled around him to avoid the Blizzard spells that he was hurling at her. As she ran she observed him and tried to determine his magic skill-level. It seemed as though he had little control over his spells and could only use them to make basic ranged attacks. He used them like bullets and could not control where they went. He could only send them in a strait line and couldn't even curve them to follow an enemy. He also seemed to have very little control over the movement speed of his paramagic. All Selphie had to do was keep moving and keep her distance and he wouldn't even be able to hit her.

The girl summoned her spiritual power and shot it out toward Squall to establish a spiritual connection with him, the way she would prior to drawing magic from a monster. Once she was connected to his spirit she could see that he had no magic stocked, the same as her. The only thing he had to use against her was the magic stone in his hand. She grinned. This wouldn't be so hard. He may have had a magical item feeding his attacks but she had two – if only she knew what kind of magic they contained. All she knew for sure was that they held the power of green paramagic. _One way to find out._

Selphie reached out to taste the power held within the blue-grey stone in her left palm and noted it was something she had never felt before. She brought out enough of the energy for a single spell and targeted it at Squall, using her connection with him like the lock-on of an air-to-air missile launcher.

The brunette continued circling around her opponent wondering whether her spell had even taken effect. Sure, Green paramagic was normally of the indirect variety but still… perhaps it didn't work. Suddenly, Squall ceased with his sending Blizzard spells in her direction as if he were an artillery gunner who had run out of ammunition. _Has he completely expended the power of his magic stone?_ Selphie found _that_ hard to believe. It wasn't like their fight had gone on for an exceptionally long period of time. The Candidate took her chance in this ceasefire and sent another spell at Squall – the same one as before. She tried target him using her connection once more when she suddenly realised that she couldn't sense his aura at all. What was this? Was this phenomenon the effect of her spell? Perhaps it was a support spell used to help in stealth but she had never heard of such a condition. _"What the…?"_

Squall tried several more times to form more Blizzard spells before realising it was futile. _"What is this? Is it the stone?"_ The magic stone in question continued to sit in his hand but had ceased glowing and Squall could no longer feel any kind of power resonating from the item. He heard a snickering from behind him. "It looks like you've been silenced by her spell." Squall looked around and saw the Instructor watching him again. "Silence is a status abnormality caused by paramagic as well as some monster's attacks. While under this condition you won't be able to do anything whatsoever related to paramagic or Junctions." Squall opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. His voice had left him. He closed his mouth, confused. He heard the snickering once more. "You also won't be able to talk or make any sound with your vocal chords. For all intents and purposes you are now mute. Then again, it's not like it really makes too much of a change for you. _You_ don't say shit anyway," he laughed, "but seriously, that stone you are holding is now useless… unless of course you want to use it to bash someone's brains out. You can always use it as a crude melee weapon." P walked away again to observe another student, leaving Squall to look at the stone in his hand. If he didn't think of something, he'd be in trouble.

He looked from the stone, to Selphie and back to the stone then back to Selphie again. What could he do? If he charged at her she'd just use her other magic stone – whatever it could be. He threw the stone. Suddenly as the item flew toward her Selphie's eyes were on _it_ rather than Squall. Even if it didn't hurt her too much it would still serve as a semi-decent distraction. Maybe he could use this to run around and tackle her from her right flank. With his battle-plan set in motion he took off in a sprint.

Selphie saw the stone coming toward her and guessed it must be some kind of trick or trap but this was too good an opportunity to pass up. The stone was even carrying on a perfect path. Selphie tossed her Silence stone aside and outstretched her left hand. The Blizzard stone travelled through the air and landed smugly in her palm. Selphie grinned. This was perfect! Soon after, she felt a sharp pain on her right side that sent her tumbling to the ground.

The first impact of being hit closely followed by the next of hitting the dirt caused her to inhale sharply. As soon as she could move Selphie squirmed about, manipulated her position and managed to kick Squall away from her and then after rolling away from him, leaped backward a few times to create some distance between the two of them. Selphie was an excellent magic user but her physical abilities were lacking – especially in terms of strength and defence. After two more attacks like that she wouldn't be able to continue. Still, she smiled all the same. All she had to do was keep a distance between them and Squall wouldn't be able to lay a finger on her. He could do nothing at all. Now it was _her_ turn to go on the offensive. A wide grin crept onto her face. "Squall!" she said.

_What?_ the brunette thought…

−then he saw it…

−two stones…

−one in each hand…

−one blue…

−one red…

−she had his ice Stone!

_Damn!_ Squall screamed inside his head. Selphie's aura instantly flared and a ball of ice instantly began forming in the air before her. _She works fast… I can't let her hit me with one of those._

The tables had most definitely turned.

Selphie launched the ice-ball at Squall and created another as soon as the first was on its way. She created another and another and soon enough there were ten large balls of ice hurtling toward the unfortunate Candidate like slow, oversized frozen bullets.

Squall instantly turned and ran at a flat-out sprint in a serpentine-like fashion to avoid the ice-balls and had successfully run a full ring around Selphie when he at last realised that there were far too many balls of ice chasing him. When he had been shooting them, Selphie had easily managed to evade them but this was different. Not only could Selphie churn them out faster as if she were an automated construction line but they were also _much_ more difficult to avoid. It was almost as if… _Wait a minute. Are these things… are they following me? _The boy continued to run and came to a conclusion._ Are these things somehow following me?_ Indeed they were. Squall's eyes widened as he was stricken by the conclusion that Selphie was at a different level altogether when it came to paramagic. Just how far behind _was_ he?

Squall decided his only choice was to get as far away from Selphie as he could. His only chance to avoid being hit would be to weave in and out between all the other training bouts. Maybe he would be able to shake off all these Blizzard spells. It was his only choice. There was a slight window of hope. All magic had a limited range and would fizzle out when it travelled too far away from the one who cast it.

He ran all over the place in a random pattern fully expecting some near misses as he crossed the path of other student's spells but received none. Apparently the rest of the class had stopped fighting to watch Squall exchange spells with the new transfer student. _What a pity. It's not much of a show is it? They're probably all laughing at me like I'm some kind of sideshow freak running from all this flying ice._

As it turned out Squall was only half right. The rest of the students _were_ all watching but they weren't laughing. They were too busy staring awestruck at the awesome finesse on display. Out of the lot of them, only Seifer and Fujin could use their magic so well.

Selphie continued to fire off shot after shot of her paramagic, all the while smiling with pride the amount of skill she possessed – and to think she wasn't even a SeeD yet. Just then, she lost mental contact with the red stone in her left hand. She looked down at the stone and her smile faded. "All out? Oh well," she said, allowing the stone to drop to the ground. She then turned her attention to the blue stone in her other hand. She connected with it and sensed a familiar energy – Sleep. Her smile returned and she drew in as much of the energy as she could. The Stone began to glow with a blue hue and she felt her own aura pick up as she absorbed the stone's power into her being. Before long the stone ceased glowing and returned to its dormant state – dull and lifeless. This too dropped to the ground at the girl's feet.

"Hey, that was amazing, ya know!" Raijin exclaimed. The entire class had been intently watching and studying the fight between Squall and Selphie.

"Yeah" Seifer agreed "Didn't know they had it in 'em. Too bad he's never fought like that against me. If he did our little matches might even be a little interesting."

"Wow," Zell commented under his breath "was that a compliment, from Seifer? What's this world coming too?" His comment was met by a smirk from Fujin. _Their_ fight was over. Fujin had been victorious within a couple of minutes. It was a unanimous decision between the both of them.

The Squall/Selphie fight was certainly a most excellent one but now it was over. Selphie had apparently run out of paramagic – since she had stopped casting spells – and the ones she had already cast had all fizzled out like candlelight suffocated in an airtight glass jar. Squall turned to face the class – once again panting for breath, exhausted and completely drained – and took a few steps toward them. He seemed to be completely exhausted. He took several more steps before stopping… and fainting.

The common assumption was that Squall had simply passed out from exhaustion from his fight with Selphie. He had merely pushed himself too far. This was the thought running through everyone's mind as they gathered around the unconscious boy. "Too bad" Seifer sneered "and he was _so_ close, too. Oh well, I guess Squally was a little too sleepy. Zell must've kept him up too late last night!" he added the last part loudly for emphasis and it needn't be said that he got the reaction he was looking for. Fujin smirked. Raijin guffawed and some of the other students laughed as well. Zell did little more than snarl.

"Enough jokes," Instructor P ordered although even _he_ wore a slight grin. "This is a serious offence. You should love this, Seifer. You finally get make a black mark against his record" he said, nodding his head in Squall's direction.

"What the hell for?!!" Zell demanded.

"Sleeping during class is against academy regulations" P announced in a matter-of-fact tone.

"But it's not like that!" Selphie defended "He's only unconscious because I used a sleep spell on him!"

"Then he should have defended against it better."

"Against green paramagic… without a status-defence Junction?" the brunette challenged "that's impossible!"

"Is it…? Perhaps, but then again, sleeping during class _is_ a terrible crime, no matter the circumstances. This will go on record and rest assured the Garden Master _will_ be notified. Dismissed," he said before silently and casually strolling out of the Training Centre. One by one, the students all walked out the exit and each went their own way, perhaps to the cafeteria, perhaps to the Dormitory. Soon there were only three people remaining.

"Hey, do you want any help waking him up?" Zell offered the brunette girl. Selphie shook her head.

"No, I'll be fine. He'll be awake soon."

"Alright" Zell replied, leaving the girl to tend with the unconscious Squall. She knelt down on her knees and placed a hand on the unconscious Candidate's shoulder, gently shaking him awake. When that didn't work, she tried calling his name. After a couple of minutes of this she sensed the presence of someone standing behind her.

"I said I could handle it, Zell. Don't worry.

"I'm not Zell" the taunting voice of Seifer replied.

"_Oh great."_ Selphie had only been at Balamb Garden for a few days and she was already beginning to really hate this guy. She let out a sigh of exasperation. She really didn't need this right now. It was amazing that Squall had managed to put up with him for so long. "What do you want?" she impatiently asked.

"Hey? What's with the attitude? We just want to help.

_I guess that means those other two are here – Raijin and Fujin._

"You can go now. We'll take care of him."

"What do you want with him?"

"Don't worry" Seifer assured her "I just want to help him."

"Really?"

"Yeah" Selphie considered this for a moment. "I'm sure you have other things you need to do. Just let me take care of this for you." Selphie eyed him suspiciously.

"How stupid do you think I am?" she asked.

_Damn._ Seifer thought. "Why do you care so much about him, anyway? Why can't you mind your own business?"

"Squall is my friend… I think. I'm not gonna just leave him to someone like you."

"Friend huh, what's your _real_ reason? Squall doesn't have friends. He's always been alone on purpose."

"So what, that doesn't mean I'm just gonna leave." Seifer laughed at the girl's determination. "Then let's see how prepared you really are. Fujin, would you do the honours?"

"Affirmative!" she complied. Selphie swallowed hard. "You… You wanna fight?" Fujin nodded.

"Hah, not so confident now, are you?" Seifer taunted.

"This isn't even fair. I don't have any magic!" Seifer picked out a red magic stone from the box labelled 'fire' and tossed it to the brunette.

"Happy?" he asked.

"Ecstatic" she replied dryly. Her tone oozed sarcasm _Great one Selphie, you didn't back down but now you have back it up with actions… just great. _She drew the magical energy from the stone – which just so happened to be lightning – and tossed the expended item to the floor along with many others. The Instructor had apparently not considered the job of tidying up terribly important. Selphie swallowed once more and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and exhaled all her doubts in one slow audible sigh. When her eyes opened they were completely focused. This was no sparring session. It was real. This was important. There was no room for fear or uncertainty. She made eye contact with Fujin and nodded her head, indicating that she was ready to begin. "Let's go" she said.

Fujin merely smirked in return and summoned up the basic air-type spell – Aero.

Selphie immediately knew which kind of paramagic her silver-haired opponent had used. Even though wind could not be seen, the change in it could be easily felt as the once-calm atmosphere began to stir and whip the brunette's skin. There was nothing Selphie could do by way of defence as she was attacked by a miniscule whirlwind spinning around her petite frame. The speed of it was enough to hurt but as an added effect, if any object on the ground were to be picked up – like the many used magic stones littering the ground for example − the mini-cyclone could repeatedly send them slamming into it's target and if such a thing were to happen, puncture wounds were not just possible but also potentially deadly. If a wind-based attack managed to get beneath the skin while spinning fast enough, all kinds of trouble could be caused.

Selphie raised her arms and crossed them over her face to protect her eyes but in doing so, lost the gift of her sight. The air around her got heavier as though the Aero spell was changing speed or objects were being picked up. The girl peeked out from between the arms that were protecting her face from shrapnel and her emerald eyes widened.

_No…_

−it was just as she feared.

There were stones circling around her at a pleasant cruising speed.

Selphie's eyes snapped to Fujin just in time to see her sneering face before the intangible prison winded her. The stones spinning around her were the only visible indication and where they had once been slowly rotating they were now spinning around her at impossible speeds. It was like standing in the middle of a blender as small chunks of fruit and other solids whizzed passed and around her. The Aero spell was actually spinning fast enough as to create a vacuum and Selphie could only flinch as she saw the accelerated orbit of the magic stones zooming in closer to her.

Every muscle in the girl's body tensed and she hid her head behind the only shield she had.

Time dragged on as seconds passed like minutes in the dark void of Selphie's tightly closed eyelids. She knew nothing of what was happening. She could hear naught but the whipping of wind against her ears and see even less. The wind seemed to tauntingly dance around her skin until…

The girl gasped as she suffered terrible friction burns along both of her arms. The oppressive wind then continued its unrelenting assault on the rest of her body, even ripping her uniform.

Selphie desperately tried to regain her breath but it was impossible. She was surrounded by air on all sides but alas she could not inhale a single gasp. It was just like the old proverb 'water water everywhere and not a drop to drink.' The difference here of course being that one could survive a lot longer without water as their cells gradually dehydrated but to go without oxygen for even a few minutes was exceedingly dangerous. Soon enough she would go down and eventually, that's precisely what happened. As the seconds dragged on and on she could feel her awareness leaving her. Fujin must have noticed it too because the Aero spell died down, its purpose complete.

Selphie allowed herself to fall. She landed hard on her back – no energy – just… struggling… to breathe. Darkness had completely blinded her and her ears were deafened by a loud buzz. The next thing she felt was intense pain from a sudden impact as a foot landed heavily on her abdomen. The pain was too much for her. She had _already_ been finding it more than difficult to breathe. She had thought of herself as a skilled paramagic user – especially for her age – but in this fight she didn't even get a chance to defend her self, let alone fight back and now she could do nothing but lie back as she – voluntarily or not – slipped out of consciousness entirely.

After a brief silence passed, Seifer celebrated his victory by doing no less than throwing back his head in cruel mocking laughter. He stood with his foot still applying pressure to the unconscious girl's body as though standing on the corpse of a vanquished foe. "Well, _that_ was easy" he said "It seems Leonheart picks friends as weak as he is. I guess the lion cub is afraid of being challenged for leadership of his pride. Oh well, go ahead and wake up the sleeping prince" he ordered. Immediately, Raijin nodded and half walked, half jogged over to where the unresponsive boy lay and picked him up by the collar. He held him up in the air for a minute and looked at his sleeping tranquil face before throwing him hard to the ground at Seifer's feet.

The blond removed his foot from Selphie's frame and turned his attention to the other brunette at his feet. The impact of hitting the floor was enough to cancel the effects of the Sleep spell he was under. Squall awoke feeling a little groggy as the magic's effect slowly loosened on him. He looked up and was met by Seifer's superior gaze. "Morning Leonheart" he said. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Squall narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to ask what the blond was talking about but no sound came out… then he remembered.

_It looks like you've been silenced by her spell._

"Don't you remember that giant boulder you made out of ice?" Seifer asked. Squall thought back to when he first tried to use that ice stone. He had put all the contained energy into one single attack. He hadn't planned to do it that way. It just happened. He couldn't control it. He didn't even know where the boulder had wound up. "Do you remember what you did with that boulder?" Squall tried to think back but couldn't remember. "Let me give you a clue. You casually tossed it in the direction of the class – an incredibly stupid thing to do at the best of times but more importantly – you hit someone. Do you have any idea of whom it was that you happened to hit with that _giant fucking boulder_?" Squall shook his head. Seifer glowered at him. "It was _me_." The four of them said nothing. "What, no apology? Seifer asked. Squall's eyes widened. This was not good. Whatever happened would not be good in any way. Squall was not ready for any kind of fight right now. First of all, he was still exhausted from his fight – or perhaps flight would have been a better word – against Selphie. Then there was the fact that he had no weapon and finally, even though there were plenty of magic stones around he was still under the effect of Silence so he could not use them. Seifer wasted no time in kicking Squall in the head while he was down and sending him backward in the direction of his large Acauldian friend. "Raijin, I think you should teach this lion cub the proper respect for the Disciplinary committee."

The large Acauldian pulled Squall to his feet with a single hand although the brunette was still so weary that he almost collapsed again. Since he was still under silence, he merely stood still − albeit a little wobbly, looked Raijin strait in the eye and gave him a look that said such things as _"go ahead"_ or _"lets just get this over with."_ Truthfully Squall just wanted to go to sleep. The two Candidates stared each other down but it was not the most epic of staring contests since Raijin was only doing as he was told and Squall being entirely drained couldn't be bothered with even giving the slightest of glares. Their contest was soon put to an end by way of a punch to the face.

Squall allowed the force of the point-blank attack to send him falling backward. When he had landed he rolled onto his stomach and slowly forced himself to get back up. As tired as he was he couldn't just roll over and let Seifer do whatever the hell he wanted. If the Blond got his way then things would only get harder.

A savage punch to the gut caused Squall to double over in pain but he soon straitened up again after getting hit with an uppercut to his jaw. He lunged forward to fight back but his tired attacks were far too sloppy and weak. They were easily blocked and his face pummelled by a right hook, then a left, then a right. Another left hook sent his entire body swinging out from the force of the blow.

Raijin put his fists together to create one massive blunt weapon which he raised above his head. He took a step closer to the brunette who still happened to be recovering from the last combo. The Acauldian glanced at Seifer to catch an approving nod before bringing his sledgehammer hands down hard on the crown of Squall's head.

Squall went down. He landed on his knees and dropped down on all fours. Before he had the opportunity to get up Raijin raised his fists above his head once more and brought them down sharply onto Squall's back.

The brunette's knees gave out and he collapsed into a feeble heap on the ground. Raijin looked at Seifer who only grinned from enjoyment. "Good" he encouraged his friend and subordinate. "I'll take it from here."

The blond walked toward Squall while Raijin traded places with him, standing beside Fujin. Seifer bent his right leg back and allowed gravity to do the rest for him, adding enough power to inflict pain as his kick landed in the side of Squall's chest. The brunette lifted his head and saw Selphie's unconscious body just before feeling his own useless frame being flipped over onto its back. Lying back, Squall looked strait up into Seifer's malicious jade eyes and his sneering scornful smirk. The blond leaned down and picked up his rival by his collar, lifting him off the ground into the air. "Pathetic" he commented before tossing him to the side. "Now, how can I have more fun? Maybe I should have gone first _after_ all. It's not even amusing when he doesn't try to fight back.

"Yo, what the fuck?!!" Seifer turned around to see two people enter the Training Centre – Zell and Xu. He could only laugh. "Impeccable timing you chicken! You managed to arrive just when the danger was over."

"Really, that's too bad," Zell replied. "I hope you'll excuse my lateness but I'm here now and that's what counts, right?" he asked before charging strait at the arrogant blond. He managed to get half way there before Raijin intercepted him. The muscular dark skinned boy popped him into the air with an uppercut. He caught the blond by the leg and began spinning him, getting faster and faster with each passing revolution. "Ahh" Zell managed to say "shit!" After the sixth spin, Raijin let him go. The velocity from the spin sent Zell flying right at Seifer and causing him to land painfully against the arrogant bastard's outstretched foot.

Having seen the whole thing Xu let out a sigh and took off in a sprint toward the impending battle. Her lean legs carried her closer and closer toward the first obstacle – Raijin. Rather than try to get past him, Xu kicked off hard against the ground and leapt high into the air. Her jump carried her up and over Raijin and as soon as she was, her aura flared for the briefest of moments and with the simple gesture of putting her arms out in front of her, a large orb matching her aura shot forward.

The orb flew right past Seifer and hit Squall, bathing him in a light that was instantly absorbed into his body, rejuvenating him. While he stood to his feet, Xu positioned her body to perform a full front flip in the air and land on her feet. The others just stared at her, awestruck. Before any of them had a chance to react the girl stuck her leg out behind her, catching Raijin in the abdomen and sending him back. Her aura flared for one more instant as she summoned more of her paramagic. She formed it into a fireball in her left palm. Immediately after, she summoned up another fire spell, also forming it into a ball, this one in her right hand. She tossed the first at Raijin, allowing it to burn into him.

The girl turned around and threw the second at Fujin and immediately ran after it, summoning a third fireball as she ran. She hurled it in Seifer's direction, continuing to sprint toward Fujin. Upon reaching her Xu jumped and pivoted in the air. Her left leg passed over her target's head, further increasing her momentum. Her right leg came around fast, kicking her hard in the side of the head and causing the one eyed girl to loose balance. Once Xu had landed she sent her right leg strait upward, kicking Fujin under the jaw and while she was airborne, summoned her paramagic once more. This time she used a lot more of the spiritual energy, creating a level-one Fira spell. She didn't focus it into any complicated shape or form, instead simply allowing it to burn in a one metre radius around her.

Once the fire had burned itself out Fujin dropped to her knees and fell flat on the ground. Xu turned to face Seifer. "You and your friends must be tired after a training session with Instructor P. I strongly advise you to leave and get some rest." Seifer merely laughed.

"What are you talking about?" he asked "It's three on three, finally a fair fight."

"Not really" Xu replied "I have _real_ combat experience, much more that all of you. I could take you all on by myself if I wanted.

"You're pretty cocky."

"I could say the same about you."

"Pfft, I'll show you to underestimate the Disciplinary Committee!"

"Can you guys take the lackey's on your own?" the girl asked, talking to Squall and Zell. The latter punched his fists together confidently.

"You mean two on two? I like these odds" he declared. Even if they lost, getting beaten by a fully fledged member of SeeD would surely put Seifer in his place. "Squall, are you okay with working with me?" The brunette shrugged. SeeD were required to be able to cooperate in small teams anyway.

_It's not like I have a choice_ he thought. Being unable to talk, he merely nodded his head. Zell took his answer as an affirmative.

"Then lets do it!" he bellowed, charging strait into Raijin. Squall took one last look at Xu before he launched into his own fight. Xu's aura flared up one more time before dying down again. Squall wondered if she had used Silence like Selphie had. Next, Seifer's aura flared as well except… this was different. This aura was black and when it died down, the blond was nowhere to be seen. The brunette narrowed his eyes. _Did he use some kind of paramagic to escape?_ He glanced at Xu who wore a knowing smirk and before he could even blink she faded into nonexistence right before his eyes – just like a ghost. _What the…?_

He had no time to think about it since Fujin now stood before him, ready to fight. Neither had a weapon and he figured he was at least a little better than her at hand-to-hand so he had an advantage there but then again Fujin could use her paramagic to manipulate the air current. She was not the kind of opponent one could simply ease up on. If she wanted to she could probably strip him of not only his clothing but also his skin. Wind was a difficult element to master but it was also very lethal. Squall got the feeling that the girl before him could kill at any time if she felt like it. Fortunately this was just the equivalent of a training fight and needn't be taken seriously to warrant death. Killing a training partner was against regulations. There was _no_ way a member of the disciplinary committee would do something so extreme just to win a fight like this.

Squall stood in a battle-ready stance and took a deep breath. He would have to strike first. If he kept attacking she wouldn't be able to gather her paramagic. He would just have to knock her unconscious as soon as possible.

Zell delivered blow after blow after blow to Raijin's muscular frame and the Acauldian just seemed to take it as though he could barely feel anything. _Damnit_ – the blond thought – _I need to hit him a lot harder than that._

Before the Acauldian had a chance to retaliate, Zell grabbed him by the shoulders and jumped, pushing against Raijin to gain extra lift. Once he was in the air the blond savagely swung his leg inward, hitting Raijin square in the face with his knee. Without wasting any time Zell made his next move by pushing up against his larger opponent once more and swinging his left leg over the boy's frame, kicking through the left side of his head. He then reverse kicked back the way his leg had come, this time hitting Raijin's head on the _right_ side and while still in the air he turned, positioned both legs before his opponent's face and double kicked as hard as he could with the soles of both feet. Raijin fell backward and Zell landed in a forward roll before springing to his feet and turning to face Raijin once more.

The Acauldian rose to his feet and walked toward Zell, a big vacant-looking smile on his face. "Hey, that kinda hurt ya know!" he exclaimed as though this were all in good fun.

"Shit!" Zell exclaimed. He ran once more at his opponent – blocking several hard attacks as he did so – and grabbed the back of Raijin's short black haired head with his left hand, pulling it down as his right fist smashed forward into his face. Zell's knee dug into Raijin's chest and as he allowed his foot to rest on the ground as his right arm swung back and violently thrust forward to allow his fist to smash into the Acauldian's dark-skinned face once more. "How about that?" the blond demanded "Do ya like that, Huh?!!" He brought his fist back again and what followed was a barrage of rigid punches to Raijin's face.

While the spiky haired boy continued to pummel the Acauldian's face into a mashed pulp-like substance, Squall launched into his fourth attack on Seifer's other subordinate. Fujin had an enormous advantage in terms of agility and reflexes. Even so, Squall's physical attacks were a lot stronger but the silver haired girl had powerful wind magic. She was built as the perfect ranged soldier whereas Squall – like Seifer – was more akin to a knight. While neither was the perfect hand-to-hand combatant, if the two were joined as a single entity, the merged warrior would likely have enough broad skill to successfully fight Zell or Raijin.

Fujin dodged the brunette's fifth punch with ease and delivered one of her own, landing it in Squall's shoulder, causing it to turn numb. The brunette grimaced and swung his arm out in turn, jabbing Fujin roughly in the side of the neck. The girl may not have been the greatest close combat competitor but it took more than that to knock her down. She quickly shook it off and launched another attack of her own.

* * *

"What the hell?" Seifer demanded immediately after taking in his surroundings – or lack of them "where the fuck are we?!!" he asked. Both he and Xu seemed to be standing _literally_ in the middle of nowhere. Around the two of them a black void of nothingness seemed to spread out for eternity. To get lost in a place like this would be a death sentence. The only reason they could see at all was because there were tinges of grey and purple. If one concentrated they could almost make out the ground and the monotonous horizon – if it could be called that. Once having blinked, one would loose sight of _everything _as it all became a blur of shadow. Seifer gave a growl of impatience while Xu merely smirked.

"This is a realm of darkness."

"Say what?"

"Can't you feel our surroundings pulling at your soul? We are being continuously drained of our spirit energy. If I were to leave you here you would not be able to live very long… or rather you would live but you wouldn't survive."

"If you don't start making sense…" Seifer threatened. Xu merely laughed at the blond's impatience. He was so predictable.

"The longer you stay here, the more the very environment of this evil realm will drain you. The atmosphere itself is filled with a venomous toxin and there is no water or food supply to speak of. To be left alone here would be a fate worse than death for your very soul would corrode and even if you could adapt to this venomous plain… you would be condemned to wander alone and lost. Your eyes would go blind from the darkness and your mind would loose all sense of self and sanity. Therefore one can not survive very long in such a vile place as this. Fortunately for us, this fight will not last very long." She gave another arrogant smirk and cracked her knuckles. Seifer joined her in her display of arrogance and strength.

"So that's why you brought us here?"

"Naturally, I thought this place fitting since there is a vast surplus of room for us to move about. Just try not to get lost. If you do, there's no going back," the dark haired girl added seriously.

"Yeah yeah," Seifer said, utterly missing the heaviness of her tone. "So now I know the what, how about the how?"

"I transported us here using Arcane-type purple paramagic known as Dark."

"An apt title," Seifer joked "I get the feeling that faggot lion cub would fit right in here… Alright," he said in all seriousness. "Let's get on with it!" without further ado, Seifer lunged at Xu with what should have been a powerful jab – had it actually hit its target. Just as Seifer's fist was coming in contact with the girl's face her entire body dematerialised. It completely faded into the darkness. Seifer ran forward, squinting in the darkness to find his target. It was futile. He suddenly stopped dead as cocky laughter rung in his ears. He frantically searched left and right. "What the Fuck?!!" he demanded.

"_While fire may be my speciality, I was trained personally by Instructor P and I have developed a natural ability for the white, green and purple groups of paramagic."_

"Where the fuck are you?!!" the infuriated blonde asked with anger seething in each syllable. Suddenly, Xu rematerialized directly behind him.

"Boo!" she barked, delivering a powerful right jab to the middle of Seifer's upper back, sending him flying though the darkness. "This place is a separate world altogether," she explained, "existing outside of our own. It is a pocket dimension in which time passes slowly, much slower than in our world anyway. One could even suggest that it does not pass at all, that time simply ceases to exist. Even the laws of physics can be bent in here. This is where I spent much of my free time training with the Instructor." She paused as though reminiscing. "Let me show you what I learned!" she roared in a voice of confidence, flying toward Seifer at impossible speeds.

The blond was ready for her this time – or so he thought. Just as he was ready to block her impending attack she faded out of existence once more, phasing behind him and delivering a powerful kick that popped him up into what he assumed to be the sky – this abstract dimension was just too much to take in.

Xu phased in before him once more and caught the blond by his throat. She gazed into Seifer's emeralds with a look of superiority and slapped him hard on the face. She drew back her hand and back hand slapped him. She repeated the motion several more times, each slap harder than the last. Overall she had slapped the blond's cheeks – now turning red from the harsh contact – no less than six times before sending him flying away yet another crushing jab.

* * *

Zell kicked right into another punch rush combo and kneed Raijin in the face once more. The Acauldian countered by slamming his right fist into Zell's chest. The spiky-haired brawler cried out from the impact before striking back with one more kick to the head, following _that_ with a flurry of high speed jabs. Three left hooks connected with the side of Raijin's head before a roundhouse kick sent him to the ground. Zell then proceeded to dive over the Acauldian's body, sharply landing on him with a well-placed elbow but even _that_ was not quite enough to stop the juggernaut formally known as Raijin. The invincible buffalo just got up again, eager for more punishment.

Squall did not fear quite so well as Zell. He and Fujin were more evenly matched than he had at first thought. His only hope was to shoot for an early knock out but that plan had gone down the drain once he discovered just how difficult it _was_ to land a successful blow on the girl. She was able to evade him quite easily and even the attacks that could not be avoided were simply blocked with an arm or a knee. Squall was about to strike her head as hard as he could with his open fist when she said something that caught him off guard. "Seifer!" she cried in a hoarse voice. Squall's hand stopped mere millimetres from her face as his head turned around to search for his self-imposed blond rival.

Xu stood behind him, a smug look on her face and draped over her shoulder like an old curtain ready to be thrown out – Seifer. He had clearly been knocked unconscious in their fight and that wasn't all. Xu didn't look tired or worn out in the least. Even if she _was_ a SeeD, Squall didn't think it was possible for _anyone_ to defeat Seifer so easily. As much as he hated the arrogant blond's guts, he had to admit that he'd grown to look up to him – as a rival, at least. It wasn't something as cheesy as 'brotherly love,' more like a respect for his fighting power. Seifer could never be considered a friend. The only label he _could_ be given was 'obstacle.' Seifer was a tree stump in Squall's path but once he finally defeated him, he'd be powerful, oh yes. After beating Seifer Squall would be able to take on the whole world.

"Hey, it's Seifer, ya know!" Raijin commented "What's wrong with him?" Xu carelessly tossed the unconscious blond to the ground.

"He's just unconscious. I had to show him what it is to fight against a _true_ SeeD. He may be a promising candidate but until he passes the SeeD exam he'll be nothing but a failure in _my_ eyes."

Squall took in what she said. _If Seifer's a failure then what does that make me? _he wondered. Xu walked over to Selphie and pulled out a small plastic vial containing a clear liquid from within her SeeD uniform. She unscrewed the top to reveal an eye-dropper.

"What's that?" Zell asked – a prudent question since even Squall was interested although he'd never vent his curiosity even if it were possible.

"Have you ever heard of the ancient practice of using phoenix feathers to revive someone who has been knocked unconscious?"

"Yeah" Zell replied.

"Well this is Phoenix Down – a concentrated potion containing among other things a fibre extracted from the phoenix feather. It's more or less a potion concocted from the essence of the feathers. The phoenix is a wonderful creature. Even its blood and tears were once used in healing potions. Of course now we have been able to produce a synthetic substitute." The girl leaned down over Selphie and placed the vial down on the ground. She placed her free hand behind the unconscious girl's back, lifting her into a tilted not-quite-sitting-up position, allowing her head to roll backward and her jaw to hang limply open. Xu hovered the dropper over the girl's waiting mouth and squeezed in a single drop of the clear liquid, waiting for the single dose of Phoenix Down to slide down the back of Selphie's throat before laying her back down to rest and moving on to Seifer. "It's such a shame" she commented "Seifer is almost tolerable when he's quiet like this. An unconscious Seifer is kinda like a dumb Squall" she added.

Xu returned the dropper to the vial and returned it safely to her right breast inside pocket. Within two minutes the potion had done its job and both casualties were awake. "You should be fine" Xu informed them "but just to be safe I'd go and get checked at the Infirmary. You all need to stay in top physical condition until after the Exam. Especially you three" she said, looking Squall directly in the eyes. "You haven't taken the exam before so be careful. Not many people pass on their first try." What she said was definitely the sugar-coated version. _No one_ passed on their first try. Quistis Trepe was the _one_ and _only_ exception.

She turned her back on the sextet and swiftly left. Seifer eyed down Squall and the other two for a long while then his lip turned upward in a brief smile. "You'd better keep improving" he told them "Next time I want a real fight."

"The hell?" was all Zell said "you just got your ass kicked!"

"Yeah, well this time doesn't count. I wouldn't even call it a draw, next time I want a fair fight, us three against you three and _no_ Instructors or SeeD or _anything_ else coming in to interrupt the fight, got it?" Squall nodded. Seifer did the same before leaving. Raijin and Fujin followed him out.

"Well," Zell said, interrupting the moment of silence "I have to get started on that assignment." Squall nodded. "What?" the blonde joked "You not talkin' ta me now? Well… see ya!" he then turned and quickly made his exit. Squall turned from the leaving boy and shifted his gaze to Selphie whose eyes were wide as though a realisation had just struck her like a mace in the face.

_What?_ Squall asked inside his head.

"Are you… still under that spell I used?" Squall nodded. "I thought so. C'mon, we should go to the Infirmary to get that status removed." She then led him out of the Training Centre, around the central elevator shaft and toward the Infirmary.

When they arrived there they found a disgruntled Doctor Kadawaki staring at them. She gave an exasperated sigh. "Have you been fighting again?" she accused. Squall just nodded in his response. "Then just wait here. You are not the first one that I must treat." With that she withdrew into on of the cubicles.

What followed was a long silence disturbed by a loud crack accompanied by an audible "Ow!" and then silence again. Soon Raijin walked out from the cubicle and walked past the two new entrants as he silently left. Soon Doctor Kadawaki appeared once more.

"Broken nose" she sighed before turning to look at Squall. "Nothing seems to be wrong with you. What is it?" she asked. When he said nothing she continued to prod him with questions. "What is it, are you too embarrassed, what, why can't you tell me?" Still nothing. She turned to Selphie and noted the many scratches and cuts lining her arms as well as the tears in her uniform. _Then is he here for her? That would explain the awkwardness but it's not like him…_ "What is it, is it you? Those cuts look rather bad."

"What?" Selphie asked confused. Then she looked down and remembered her fight with Fujin. She had completely forgotten about the state of her arms. "Oh no, don't worry about me. It doesn't even hurt. We're here for Squall." Kadawaki eyed her suspiciously.

"Nothing seems to be wrong with him."

"Na-uh, He's under Silence." Kadawaki's eyes widened and then she smirked. "Oh," she said, "I see." She retreated into her office and returned momentarily with a potion in each hand. One was a familiarly foul red liquid which the Doctor handed to Selphie. "Drink this Elixir and all your injuries will be healed by the time you wake up tomorrow morning." She turned to Squall "and as for you…" she handed him the other potion – this one a light aqua blue colour. "This is a multipurpose potion known simply as 'Remedy.' It will instantly cure most afflictions."

Both brunettes quickly downed their respective potions and headed back to the Dormitory.

When they got there Squall would have given anything to just lock himself in his room and fall into a deep sleep. This SeeD training seemed to get more and more exhausting with each passing day. If the brunette were not so responsible then that's probably what he _would_ have done but he remembered that Quistis had set them an assignment. Squall had _no_ idea what could have possessed her to give them an essay to write about Esthar at a time like this. Her job was to assist them with revision and ensure that they knew all they would need in order to pass the final theory test so why then was she setting assignments? It didn't make sense.

"Ding"

Squall and Selphie stepped out of the Dormitory Elevator and into the space that they shared. It was set out like the way roommates would share a flat or apartment. There was an area for them both to share as well as a bathroom and of course they each had their own room to sleep in.

Squall walked over to the computer terminal they shared and turned it on. "Hey," Selphie said rather loudly in an attempt to get his attention "we just finished a theory class, a tiring training session _and_ a fight with that corrupt clown Seifer. You're gonna start studying _now_?!!" Squall thought it best to simply ignore the petite girl's childish complaints.

Just then the Elevator made it's "ding" again. The door opened and Zell stepped into the room. "Sup?" he simply greeted. Squall let an impatient sigh slip past his lips.

_Honestly, you fall asleep on a couch with these two and all of a sudden they think their bound to you for life._

"Hi Zell!" Selphie replied a little too energetically for Squall's liking. The brunette sitting at the terminal simply stared at the blond as if waiting for some kind of explanation. When none came he was forced to ask.

"Zell, is there any particular reason why you're here?"

"Oh… right," Zell began but was unable to finish.

"Squall?!!" Selphie scolded "don't be so rude! He just got here, don't shoe him away."

"Nah, it's alright, really" Zell said in his own defence. "Actually, I got a reason ta be here." Squall looked at him, still waiting for some kind of explanation. Zell blinked.

"Well?" Squall asked expectantly.

"What?" Zell asked him confused. Squall rolled his eyes in frustration.

"Well… I dunno about you guys but I'm beat. I'm just gonna go get some sleep" Selphie informed them, making her way toward her room.

_Who's being impolite now?_ Squall thought. A tiny smile crossed his lips but it soon faded as the blond in the doorway made no intention of moving.

"What, already?" Zell asked her "It's only eighteen hundred."

"Yeah but I'm tired."

"Zell" Squall said, trying to keep the impatience seething his voice from dripping out. "Why are you here?"

"Huh? Oh, right" the blond answered with a stupid smile. "I'm here coz my partner for the assignment just dropped out. Instructor Trepe just told me to join your group so… yeah, I just came to tell you that." Squall nodded to show that he understood. "So when do ya wanna start?"

"Don't worry about it" Squall replied.

"What do you mean 'don't worry about it?'" Selphie – who had not quite made it to the door – asked in a voice that was loud with disbelief.

"I mean I'll take care of it. Don't worry. I'll get it all done."

"Oh, is that what you're doing?" she asked the brunette sitting at the terminal. He nodded his head in response.

"Wow, you starting already?" Zell asked him.

"Yeah, I want to get it done as soon as possible."

"Yeah, but we still got some time right? I mean we don't have to get it done tonight, do we?"

"Like I said, I want to get it out of the way."

"So what are we writing about then?"

"I told you not to worry about it."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Selphie asked.

"I'll do the project. Just leave it to me."

"No" the girl replied.

"I can do it," Squall insisted, "I'll have it done by tomorrow. Trust me, I can do it."

"That's not what I mean. You're not doing the whole thing on your own." Squall looked up at her. "This is a team effort. We should all take part."

"It's alright, really," Squall convinced them "When I was Seifer's partner I used to do the whole thing on my own."

"Yo!" Zell said, almost running across the room to get his face right up against Squall's to emphasise his point. "Do _I_ look like Seifer to you?!!" Squall shook his head. "Good. I'm Zell, That's Selphie, You're Squall and we're _all_ doing our own part. We're not Seifer or the Disciplinary Committee."

"…Fine" Squall finally agreed.

"What are we writing about anyway?" Selphie asked him. "Do we even have a topic yet?" Squall shook his head slowly.

"Not yet" he replied seriously.

"Any ideas?" she asked.

"I was considering doing something near the end of the war, in the climax." All three of them remained silent... then Selphie gasped.

"I know!" she said suddenly. She then hurried into her room, leaving the other two to uncomfortably wait on her return.

Squall had no idea what Selphie was doing but he could hear her rummaging around as though looking for something that had been long since lost. _What could she be looking for?_ Squall wondered. _"Is it really going to help?"_ With Her out of the room she left Squall alone with Zell. His eyes locked on to Zell's. The blonde gave a short smile before Squall could look away. _Why do I have to be with him? I guess he's saying the same about me. Still, I suppose it could be worse. At least he's not Seifer._

Selphie came bounding back into the room. "Hey, I found it!" she said. She was holding an old, worn magazine.

_What is it?_

"Yo, what's that?" Zell asked her.

"Just wait a minute" Selphie said, flicking through the pages to find the one she wanted. After a minute of turning pages the sound ceased. "Here it is" she told the other two. "If we're gonna write an essay we'll need facts, right? I knew I still had it. This is an article about the 'great city of Esthar." She gave the magazine to Squall to read.

The brunette skimmed through the information on the double page before handing it over to Zell. The Article was nothing special and offered no information that Squall didn't already know. It more-or-less simply described the state of the city near the end of the Sorceress war just before the mysterious ceasefire. It was nothing special although it may have come in handy when they first learned about it. It probably had done for Selphie back in Trabia. For _this_ assignment though, Squall couldn't help but think the article would be of little use to them. "…Yeah" Zell said after finishing with the tourism magazine's content "We've already covered all this in class." That confirmed it.

"Yeah, so did I but I thought it might help with checking dates but we don't _have_ to use it… "Selphie said, defending the magazine "What _are_ we writing about, anyway?"

"Search me" Zell replied. "Squall?" he asked "you got any ideas?" The Candidate in question simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno" he quietly admitted. "I'd probably do it on… I don't know."

"What if we all do one mini-essay each?" Selphie suggested. Squall had to admit it wasn't too bad an idea. "We each do one paragraph tonight on our own topic. Make it at least a hundred words and give it proper structure and everything. You know? A start, middle and end. Should be easy enough right?" Squall nodded.

"Yeah, we c'n do that!" Zell said, practically roaring with confidence. Squall couldn't help but think that Zell would make a good cheerleader.

"Okay. Then, when we're done one of us can do an introduction, add a conclusion and we're all done." They all agreed.

"I'll do that" Squall offered.

"You sure?" Zell asked. Squall nodded his head.

"I was going to do the whole thing on my own anyway."

"Okay, if you're sure" Zell replied. Squall nodded again.

"We should all decide what to write about now so we don't accidently all do the same thing," Selphie advised them.

"Oh yeah, otherwise we might have the same paragraph three times and I don't think we'd get a very good grade for that," Zell added.

_Obviously, _Squall thought inside his head.

Squall may have been a little concerned about the prospect of writing a joint essay with those two but it wasn't really so bad. With them each doing their own part it was just like working on their own but with the workload cut down to a third. Once they were done Squall would read over the other two segments and edit them all together, then add an introduction and conclusion. When he thought about it, it really _was_ just like working alone. It would just be easier on him. That was the only difference.

Perhaps the cerulean-eyed brunette was worried for no reason. The next half hour went by in silence save for the scratching of pen on paper. Once they were finished, Zell and Selphie gave their drafts to Squall to read over and work into a full essay in his own time.

As Squall finished his part of the assignment, Zell and Selphie sat back and talked quietly, just creating enough noise to stave off boredom but not so much as to disturb and interrupt Squall.

After about another hour or so Squall was done, he looked up from his work and sat back in his chair. The other two noticed this. "So, all done?" Selphie asked him.

"Yeah, it's all finished. I'll hand it in tomorrow." Both sets of eyes trained on the brunette instantly widened.

"Wait, you mean you've finished the _whole_ thing?" Zell asked in amazement. "You _do_ know it's not due in yet right? Don't we have a month or something?"

"I like to get things like this done as soon as I can" Squall replied matter-of-factly. Even when I was partnered with Seifer I used to try and get it all done on the first night."

As a whole, Squall's opinion of the essay was among the highest he could give for his own work. It was nothing special but he thought it would be good enough to pass. Squall had done the first paragraph about the fall of Adel whereas the third – written by Selphie – had been about the nation's sudden plunge into exile. Since Zell's grandfather had been one of the fighting men who actually took part in the war, the blond brawler had been more than happy to do the middle chunk of the essay on the war itself – from Balamb's point of view, of course.

* * *

When Squall awoke the next day and departed from his room he found the larger apartment-like Dorm room empty. _"Selphie must have gone already"_ he thought. He picked up the essay they had all written the evening before and took the Dorm room elevator, exiting the Dormitory.

With the Junior Classmen and slightly-older students and Cadets out on their summer break The Garden was half empty and a lot more peaceful. Only SeeD and SeeD Candidate remained behind and since many – if not most – SeeD were out having been distributed around the world for various missions, it was even more empty and tranquil. It was not uncommon for Squall to find himself wandering alone without a single soul entering his line of sight. Even so, nothing else had changed. Garden life was still run to a strict routine and every day, students were required to report to their theory class and in the evening – their practical or physical.

Squall walked to Balamb Garden's central Elevator shaft without distraction to burden him and rode the vertically-moving car up to the second floor on his way to Quists' classroom.

As he approached the hallway leading to his destination the brunette noticed people waiting outside. _Some things haven't changed at all_ he thought to himself. _The Disciplinary Committee never split up, Zell is still annoying, Seifer's still a prick and Instructor Trepe is still running late. _With a sigh he leaned against the wall with the young Instructor's other students, albeit leaving a significant gap between him and they. He clutched the Essay in his right hand as he waited for Quistis to show up and unlock the door.

The brunette didn't have to wait long for his Instructor to arrive – at least not as long as he had expected to. The sleep-deprived blonde came walking down the hall in her SeeD uniform, walking right past her class without uttering a single word on her way to the door of her classroom. She unlocked the automated sliding door with her cardkey and let her class in.

Squall brought up the rear of the class. He handed her the essay without a word as he slipped past her. The Instructor had been expecting Squall to be the first to hand in his assignment. He _always_ did. Quistis didn't know why but she assumed it was just the boy's way of wanting things like this to be out of the way as soon as possible. She accepted the brunette's assignment with a grin, matching his silence. She followed him into the classroom and the door automatically closed behind her.

Squall walked to the back of the class and sat in his usual seat. He had always sat here and the fact that Selphie happened to be in the seat next to it had no bearing on his decision to sit there one way or the other. "Hey Squall," he said just loud enough so that only he would hear. He turned to face her to let her know he was listening without having to actually say anything. "Did you hand the assignment in?" Squall nodded and turned his attention back to the Instructor.

"I believe that you have begun Paramagic in your afternoon lessons," Quistis addressed her class. Am I correct?" A lacklustre murmuring from the class answered her in the affirmative. "Very well then, we will begin the theory content. Some of you will know this but a few others may not. Can anyone tell me exactly what the power we call 'magic' _is_?" Selphie raised her hand. "Yes?"

"It's like an energy force that we can draw out from items, monsters and even from the planet itself." The brunette sitting next to Squall paused to recall information she had previously stored in her mind like an old filing cabinet. "Before we can use it we must first draw it and store it inside us but there is a limit of how many spells we can keep inside us. I don't know what that limit is but I also heard that you can only draw up to one hundred of each spell." Quistis smiled at the brunette's answer.

"That's quite a common misconception," she replied. Selphie's face contorted. "You see, there _is_ no limit to how many spells we can store, only how much of the spiritual energy our minds can hold on to. Also, this limit is not a set number. It will be different for everyone." Selphie nodded in understanding. "Some people believe that drawing magic is like drawing money from the bank but these people are mistaken and ignorant. Spells should be thought of like a mystical force, not like physical objects. Monsters have a very high amount of this energy and regenerate it at an incredible rate. This is why powerful monsters can be bred for magic drawing purposes. Now, does anyone know the different classes of magic, Seifer, do you know?"

"Black – elemental-type," the blond began, "White – restorative and support-type, Green – status-afflicting and indirect-type, Red – forbidden type…" he paused before naming the last one "Also, purple – arcane type."

"Very good Seifer, very few people know of the mysterious purple arcane paramagic. Do you know what it does?"

"It's pretty strange and broad, kind of vague really. Some spells affect space and time, speeding or slowing time on the target or even transporting them to another dimension." Quistis nodded.

"Like Dark and X-zone. Magic is popular among SeeD and also the military because although it can be avoided, if it hits then it is almost impossible to defend against without some kind of magic barrier."

"Oh, like Squall did yesterday," Zell piped up.

"What?" the Instructor asked him, amazed.

"Yesterday when we were using magic stones Squall brought out this massive arc of energy. Is that what you mean by barrier?"

"Yes" Quistis replied after some thought "I suppose that would be a very crude and primitive way to do it. It is also very dangerous, since it is possible to completely drain your spirit that way."

"What happens then?"

"The caster will then feel exhausted and may even loose the will to fight." Squall's eyes widened. To loose the will to fight on the battle field means instant death. "In severe cases the spirit could be so crucially drained that death is a certain possibility. Creating a defensive barrier that way – if ever – should only be used in a life-and-death situation."

"Then how else can you make a barrier?"

"There are white spells designed for that very purpose. As far as I know, three spells have been discovered. They are 'Protect," 'Shell' and 'Reflect.'

The class proceeded in that fashion with Quistis both asking questions and lecturing them on the effects and uses of magic before releasing them. The class had actually gone by comparatively quickly and when it was over the students all walked to their own destinations in order to do their own thing. Squall was joined by Zell and Selphie as he exited the class – yet another aspect of his current routine – and as he walked down the hall he found Seifer waiting for him.

Squall stood in the hall with Zell and Selphie standing on either side of him. Across the hall Seifer stood opposite with Raijin and Fujin. The arrogant blond sneered at the newcomers and beckoned Squall over with his right hand. The brunette took a deep breath and let it out before allowing himself to be baited for whatever Seifer had waiting in store for him.

He walked toward the expectant blonde and shot him an angry look. He really wasn't in the mood for this. "What?" he asked with as much venom as he could muster.

"Get your weapons" Seifer simply said through his trademark smirk. Squall shook his head. "Come on Leonheart, you owe me a rematch!"

"Yeah but…" Squall said in a quiet voice "not today, not now."

"Oh, yes now. Seeing as how you don't want to… it only makes me more eager to mop the floor with you, all of you. You three against us" he said holding out his arms to point out Raijin and Fujin standing at either side of him. "The Training Centre, ten minutes. Be there," he threatened.

"No" Squall answered "Find someone else." He turned his back on Seifer and walked back to his initial position.

"Why, you afraid?" the blond taunted.

Squall froze. "…Whatever" was all he said before starting to walk again. The next thing he knew, he was down on his hands and knees and he had a sharp pain on the right side of his neck.

"You can't stop it now Squall, the fight's already begun! As head of the Disciplinary Committee cannot condone battle in the hallways so I _highly_ suggest you move it to the Training Centre… or face the dire consequences." Squall gave an exasperated sigh as Seifer and his posse left him in the hall. Once they were gone Zell and Selphie rushed over to him.

"What the hell was that all about?" Zell asked. Squall looked up at him.

"Seifer wants to fight" he simply said "him, Raijin and Fujin against the three of us."

"Where?" Zell asked "If that bastard wants to initiate fights with cheap ass moves like that then bring it on!" Squall stood to his feet.

"Then it'll be in the Training Centre."

"When?"

"Now." Zell nodded and headed in the direction of the elevator. Selphie gave him a concerned look. "Do you _really_ wanna do this?"

"I don't have much choice."

"Sure you do!"

"You don't understand. Me and Seifer… it's complicated. Ever since I can remember… I don't know why but I just can't stand down to him." Selphie nodded.

"Then let's go" she said, following after Zell. Squall gave one last sigh before following after as well.

After a detour to the Dormitory to pick up their weapons the three headed strait for the Training Centre and strait into their waiting confrontation. They found Seifer, Raijin and Fujin all waiting for them in the Safety area of the Training Centre. "You're just in time" the blond said to them as they were entering the area – literally as soon as the came into view.

"Can we just do this and get it over with?" Squall asked impatiently, his right hand gripped the hilt of his sheathed gunblade. Seifer saw this and smirked.

"You seem eager" he commented.

"Hey, wait a minute" Zell said "who's fighting who?"

"Free for all" Seifer replied. "There are no set rules. Just open three on three combat. That alright with you guys?" he asked although the way in which he said it implied that he was going to go with it whether the other accepted it or not.

"I can live with that" Zell replied.

"Sure!" Selphie added.

Squall merely nodded and drew his Revolver – the most basic model of Gunblade. He stood in a battle-ready stance, holding Revolver diagonally in both hands ready to defend any frontal attack. Everyone else scrambled around him whereas Seifer charged strait for him, drawing his own gunblade – a more complex lightweight one-handed model known as Hyperion with a more powerful semi-automatic gun – as he ran. Just before reaching slashing range of Squall the blonde pivoted into a full three hundred and sixty degree spin, flinging out Hyperion's blade at the end of his pivot for added reach and speed. If Squall had not been ready the first strike would have made a nasty gash right in the middle of his torso.

The battle between them raged on, not ending until the time had come for their afternoon class to begin. The high-speed battle ensued until Squall fell, too tired and sore to continue. In a battle to the death he may have fought a little longer but he simply couldn't afford to go all out right now. He still had another class to go and if today's physical segment was to be as physically exhausting as usual he'd need to conserve his strength.

"You see" Seifer said, sneering down at the brunette in triumph. "That's the way it should've been yesterday. This is the way it is. This is the way it will _always _be." Squall rose to his feet after catching his breath and was surprised to have the sound of clapping hands greet his ears. He turned and noticed Instructor P as well as the rest of his class had been watching. For how long had they had an audience?

"Not bad Leonheart" P commended "Not bad at all." Without another word the Instructor's aura flared up, swirling around him for a good while, growing stronger by the second, after the extended period of silence – broken only by the swirling of P's spirit energy – a magnificent beam of energy shot forward from the Instructor before curving upward into the sky.

The beam seemed to disappear but before anyone had the chance to question this display the sky darkened as they were surrounded by gathering storm clouds. The wind swirled around them as though blowing in a cyclone. Squall looked around to see a few bewildered faces. Seifer was _not_ one of these faces. The brunette's vision was drawn back to the sky by a blinding flash of lightning and simultaneous roar of thunder. Squall strained his eyes to see where the next one would hit and to his astonishment, it hit the ground before him.

"Don't worry" a voice said "Lightning never strikes twice."

"Yes it does" P disagreed and to their astonishment – sure enough as proof of the Instructor's strange outburst – a second bolt of lightning struck the ground before Squall in exactly the same place. Then as if _that_ weren't enough it struck a third time before the ground exploded in a magnificent light. When the light died down, levitating in its place was a titan – a massive bird that seemed to be made of living electrical energy. "Now" he said "Let us begin the lesson."

"What _is_ that?" someone asked.

"It is a Guardian."

"A what?"

"A Guardian Force… a sacred elemental spirit, and the secret weapon of SeeD. Today I will teach you all how to establish a spiritual connection – a Junction in its simplest form. This Junction will allow you to draw magic and even give your spells a 'heat-seeking' effect. Leonheart, you must know what I mean by that." Squall thought back to the previous day when Selphie's blizzard spells seemed to follow him wherever he went. He nodded his head.

_So that's how she did it, _he concluded.

"Junctions come in many different forms. As a SeeD you will be given the opportunity to Junction a living entity such as a Guardian Force… or 'GF' to your spirit. This will not only enable you to summon said Junction in battle but also give you special advantages. As a Guardian Force gets stronger the one it is Junctioned to will gain special abilities ranging from boosting your natural parameters to the ability to magically revive a fallen comrade. It is these Junctions that make SeeD such a powerful fighting force."

As the class progressed the Instructor taught them all to establish a basic spiritual connection and draw out the spiritual energy required to store paramagic in ones mind and soul. Once he was satisfied that everyone had mastered the elementary skill of Junctioning he released the class early.

While the rest of the class exited the Training Centre to relish in their afternoon off Squall picked up his Gunblade and headed into the Monster's Lair to do the only thing he ever did in his free time. Since he had just learned the basics of Junctions and drawing magic, he decided to go out and practice his newly learned skill.

As he walked deeper into the humid jungle he concentrated his spirit energy and felt the accelerating sensation of his own spiritual force churning around him like a cooling breeze. The Candidate sent out his spirit to search for enemies and found three equal powers. They weren't too strong so Squall naturally assumed them to be Garden's own bred plant-type monsters – Grats. He was about to head out in the direction of the closest one when he suddenly sensed another powerful soul – one with greater power than his own. _Must be someone else with the same idea_ – Squall assumed. He nodded his head as if that made it final before finalising his basic Junction with one of the Grats.

With that complete, the Brunette allowed his aura to calm itself down. His spiritual vision – explained by Instructor P as a 'sixth sense' – died down into perfect blindness while still allowing him to sense the Grat he had targeted. He knew its location and the magic it possessed. Without wasting anymore time, Squall reached out to feel the Grat's magic and extracted the mystical energy from the plant's very essence. His aura flared up involuntarily as he did so. He felt the energy coming closer to him until it enveloped his own spirit and he absorbed it into his body. The magic found its way into his previously empty stock. He wasn't sure where exactly it went but it must have been inside the mind somewhere.

Before anything further could be done Squall noticed the Grat's energy change, the plant began moving. It was coming in his direction.

−It was aware of him!

It came steadily closer when suddenly Squall froze. He felt an overwhelming power from behind him. The person he had noticed from before had flared up. The next thing Squall knew, the gathered energy had separated from the person and was speeding in his direction. Judging from its energy signature it had to be a Fira spell. It came closer and flew strait past him. The next sound to enter Squall's ears was a shrill cry of agony.

Squall opened his eyes in time to see the Grat before him writhing in flames. By the time the fire had burned out the plant's stems had dropped and what remained was little more than smoldering ash, laid out in the shape of the former monster. Squall's Junction was cancelled with the death of the foul creature.

Squall turned around and Saw that Seifer was standing behind him. "Just because you can use the Sixth Sense in battle" he began in a serious tone "doesn't mean you should rely on it blindly. You have five other senses you should use… especially your _regular_ sight and hearing." Squall nodded before walking past the blond on his way to the exit. "What, you done already?"

"I just wanted to try it out for myself" Squall replied "I never came for serious training. I just wanted to make sure I understood the concept." With that being said the brunette returned to the Dormitory.

When the brunette arrived at the Dormitory he found Zell and Selphie already there. _Funny _Squall thought to himself sarcastically _If anyone saw them they would think this was their room._ Why was Zell in here again? Didn't he have his own Dorm room to go to? Why did these to have to come here to talk? Isn't the Cafeteria for that sort of thing? He let out a sigh and walked right past them saying nothing at all. He doubted they would even notice him anyway.

When he arrived in his sleeping quarters he unsheathed his gunblade and put it safely back in its case before returning the large polished black container to the foot of his bed. With a sight Squall loosened his belts and removed the strangely shaped gunblade 'holster' since he would no longer need it for the remainder of the day. He put it in its rightful place and tightened up his one remaining belt once more. With nothing else to do he took a step outside his door.

"Hey, Squall!" Zell greeted him a little too energetically.

_These two have something in common._

"Ah, Squall?" the blond asked "Is somethin' wrong?" Squall shook his head.

_I just want to be alone._

"Sit down with us then." Squall narrowed his eyes slightly. What he was really looking for right now was a quiet place to think and go over everything that had happened throughout the day. Sitting here with theses two somehow didn't seem like the ideal place for such a purpose. He shook his head slowly and walked to the Elevator. It was still in this room so he stepped in and descended to the ground floor. Zell turned to Selphie for some kind of explanation for the brunette's strange behaviour, or considering who it was… "What's wrong with him?" he asked. Selphie merely shrugged.

Squall exited the Dormitory and sauntered around to the main lobby. He wasn't quite sure where to go but thankfully no one else happened to be around. Perhaps a quiet walk would do him some good. Things were starting to get complicated.

Hopefully Seifer would be content to leave him be for a while. Over the last few days the two rival Candidates had seemed to do nothing but fight. It was exhausting and not something Squall could keep up with forever. He needed a break, both from training _and_ from Seifer. He had never realised that the summer break between semesters could be so sorely missed. Especially since the Candidate had always seen it as a big waste of time. Without it people could easily run out of steam. The thing was, if Squall actually passed these exams and graduated; He'd become a fully fledged member of SeeD and never have the structure of school-life again. He'd spend the rest of his life travelling and fighting any enemy depending on what faction paid Garden. Time between missions could possibly be used to either train or recuperate but he'd never have actual vacation time again.

Squall stopped walking for a minute. _Wait… _What was he thinking? Was he suddenly having second thoughts? Was _Squall Leonheart_ having doubts, over _this_, over his dream? How could he possibly be considering _not_ joining SeeD? This had been his life's one aspiration for so long, ever since… _How long exactly? _It was then that Squall realised that he didn't even recall. He couldn't even remember making the decision to try and become a SeeD. _This is too confusing. If I keep thinking like this I'll just end up going around in circles and getting lost. _Squall shook the thoughts from his mind and before he knew it, found himself going up the Garden's main elevator shaft.

"Ding."

Squall exited the elevator on the second floor and crossed the bridge to the corridor on the west side. He continued in this direction, heading down the main hallway toward the second floor deck – a nice quiet place that offered a beautiful view of Rinaul Coast. Squall hadn't been here in a long time.

The Candidate had often come here to be alone and to think. He approached the edge of the deck and looked out at the waves rolling onto the beach. His eyes took to watching the sky, defiled by not a single cloud. Without a sound Squall turned around and sat down in the sun with his back to the deck's safety rail. He rested his face in his right hand and his right elbow on his right knee.

After a while of silent contemplation Squall's solitude was interrupted by the sound of the electronic sliding door opening. The brunette looked up and saw someone walk out. The door closed behind them. Remarkably, this person was none other that Fujin. She looked stunned to see anyone out here. That was not surprising. Not many people had the time for trivial luxuries that a view could offer. Fujin walked over and sat beside him, leaving enough space between them so they could both be considered alone should anyone see. She looked at him.

_Did she come here for the same reason I did? _Squall wondered. Perhaps she had been thinking along the same lines as he was. After a both awkward and curious silence had ensued Fujin spoke to him – something that neither of them had expected. Fujin was _never_ the first to speak.

What followed was a brief conversation – a very slow one. When it was over, Squall was left wondering. Had she spoken to Seifer? Why did she talk to him? Why was she here? Did she have the same thoughts running through her head? Were they… could they be similar?

_No_ Squall decided. Fujin smirked. Squall looked at her through curious eyes.

"Pathetic" she commented before standing and leaving.

_Am I?_ Squall asked himself _Maybe… _Squall's eyes widened. That was it, his reason. That was why he trained so hard each day. It no longer mattered when – and even why – he had made the decision to become a SeeD, that was so long ago. It was not important. He had new goals and aims now and they all started with passing the exam and finally achieving the rank and status of SeeD.

His lips curled upward in a grin. One day he would manage to defeat Seifer and wipe the smug smirk off the arrogant bastard's face.

* * *

**That's the chapter, please review. Also, be on the lookout for my other FF8 stories. They are not up yet but likely will be before this gets another update. The names of them are not yet final but one will likely be entitled 'Angel of Decadence,' one will be 'Daddy's Disappointment' and one may have something to do with the word 'sometimes.' I'm not sure. There is also at least one other but I have no idea for the title. All these stories (to my current knowledge) will have short chapters.**


	13. Chapter XIII The Letter G

**Disturbance in the Peaceful Era**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own **Final Fantasy VIII**

**Author's Notes:** I'm sorry for the long wait. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce a platoon of Galbadian Soldiers, so that may give off mixed reactions.

**Chapter Thirteen – The Letter 'G'**

Two vehicles drove in armoured convoy along the streets in Deling – the city that never slept. The vehicles were identical in every conceivable way. Both had a grey base colour, accented with blue and red. On each side of the vehicle in white was Galbadia's insignia.

The bulky vehicles took up an entire lane and weren't technically suited for city driving. They were often used as escorts in convoys, but at least they weren't as cumbersome as their yellow SUV off-road counterparts that roamed the desert.

Inside one of the vehicles, Captain Anderson observed his unit. In the back with him sat three other soldiers, Ace – his technology expert and mechanic: a slim man with a fast wit and one of his oldest friends.

Across from him sat Brutus: his heavy weapon expert. He was a burly gentleman with a love of all things large and loud. He always carried a rocket launcher with him on patrols, regardless of their nature, although his weapon of preference was most certainly the M1A6 Semi-Automatic Combat Shotgun.

The forth member of the Captain's Transport was a short man with a fiery temper, a scout by the name of Gary. Despite his petite stature, he preferred to fight up close using dual shortswords and relying on his side-arm only when charging across the battlefield might prove impractical.

In the other armoured car behind them were stationed the other half of Anderson's unit. First, was his second in command, First Lieutenant Johnson: an expert sniper, able to hit any target. His weapon of choice was the SNG009 – Galbadia's largest and heaviest rifle. It was a bolt-action sniper rifle with a massive 750mm barrel, which was extended to 953mm with the optional sound suppressor attached. The bolt rifle fired a powerful 50. Calibre round that was capable of penetrating heavily armoured troops and was devastating to un-armoured forces.

Beside him sat the unit's medic and the youngest – a man who had only just turned twenty, barely more than a recruit. Unfortunately for him and the rest of the unit, this upcoming operation would be his first as a field medic.

Then there was Danni, a fresh-faced recruit that had been sent to them from Galbadia Garden. He was an assault fighter equipped with their standard issue M4 but he was also an explosives specialist, able to set and recover mines.

Finally, there was the oldest member of their unit – an elite generalist. Generalists were the backbone of the army and were equipped with grenades, a rifle and a longsword. He was a proud man but often the target of jokes for being past his prime and still a private – albeit elite class.

"So, Captain," Ace said, bringing Anderson out of his thought-stream and back to reality. He looked over and was met by the man's short black hair. "Are we _really_ going to see General Caraway at his _house_?"

"Yeah," the captain replied. "He's got some new mission lined up for us. Who knows what _that_ could entail?"

"I know… it could be anything," Ace replied. "Have you ever met him?"

"Never before this."

"I see. I wonder what he's like."

"He's a total conceited prick from what I've heard," Gary added.

"Be that as it may," Anderson scolded the petite scout, "He's a General of the Galbadian Army and from this day on until the completion of this new operation – our commanding officer. This is _his_ mission. We're just acting on his behalf out in the field."

"Great," Brutus replied glumly. "I don't want to go out and die for that asshole." Anderson's lips pulled into a smirk at the short man's attitude toward his superiors.

"Sure, you say that now but remember, this is the life you chose. We all did, we all made our decisions and every one of us chose this life. It's not like we were forced into this. We all volunteered. We weren't drafted into the Army by force. This ain't Esthar."

"Here here" Brutus replied.

Eventually, the two armoured cars drew to a halt outside Caraway's mansion and the soldiers saw that several more had already arrived before them.

"Hyne, how many solders does he need?" Brutus asked. Anderson could only shrug.

"This looks to be a pretty big operation."

"It must be" Ace added "I just hope the recruit doesn't slow us down any."

"He'll be fine," Brutus answered dismissively. "If not then we can always get another one. He's from Garden, right? They usually grow to be elites at the very least. He would've had better training than the usual raw recruit."

"The lad has skill. Of that there's no doubt" Anderson commented. "What he's lacking is experience. The truth is, this is his first battle. I just hope it's not too difficult for him."

"Like I said" Brutus commented "He'll be fine."

As the occupants of both cars pooled into one single group, another soldier came out of the premises to meet them.

"Greetings," he said, addressing the group of eight. "Are you the soldiers here to see the General?"

"Affirmative," Anderson responded, snapping to attention with a salute. "I am Captain Anderson. This is my unit."

"The General is waiting for you inside. You are the last group to arrive. Follow me."

With that, he led them inside the gate and up the long path toward the towering mansion.

The soldier led them into Caraway's living room and informed them to wait as he bade them farewell.

"I will now inform the General of your arrival. Please wait here and make yourselves comfortable."

"Ah, sir?" Danni – their new recruit asked the soldier nervously. "Do you know anything about this mission?"

"I am sorry," the soldier replied. "I would not be at liberty to disclose such information even if I had been made privy to it."

"Not at liberty?" Brutus asked, slightly annoyed.

"Indeed," the soldier replied. "This is a top secret mission, and as such, we do not want information to be leaked from any source."

"Aren't you part of this mission? Why have you not been informed?" Anderson enquired.

"I am not part of this mission. I am stationed here as a security measure. I am General Caraway's personal bodyguard."

With that being said, the soldier saluted them, turned on his heels and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"This better not take too long," Brutus huffed.

"From what I hear," Ace replied, "Caraway's one of the top Generals, entrusted with all the most important missions by the President himself."

"And what does that have to do with the conceited prick keeping us waiting?"

"It's only been a minute" Anderson replied.

"Yeah well…" Brutus said, trailing off. "I just hope this isn't some suicide mission."

As the older soldiers spoke, one of the younger, less experienced men walked about the room, seemingly pacing from impatience. Danni couldn't blame the rest of his unit for misinterpreting his continued movement for impatience. It had happened before. It was a common misconception, actually.

It didn't matter where he went. Danni was always accused of being young, brash and impatient. This wasn't true of course but nothing could be done about it. That was just the way people seemed to see him. Perhaps it was out of some kind of preference, who knew?

The young soldier walked up and down the room, his eyes never leaving the walls.

This was like a waiting room, only more interesting. The very walls were lined with priceless pieces of artwork. The one he gazed into at that moment happened to be an artist's impression or recreation of Obel Lake. He wasn't sure why but there was something eerie about it. Right in the centre of the lake, there was a dark patch. There was no mistake that it had to have been done on purpose. Such a feature couldn't have been a simple error, could it? It looked almost as though there were something waiting underneath the water, as though something big lived in there.

Danni backed away from the painting and walked over to the others.

"Just how long is this guy planning to make us wait?" Brutus asked. "Danni shrugged his shoulders while Anderson admitted that he didn't know.

The men waited patiently for their elegant host to show himself for what seemed like hours.

From what they'd all been told, General Caraway was a respectable man, so for what purpose was he making them wait? What kind of man was late to his own meeting? What on earth could be keeping him?

Danni had resorted to pacing again, and this time, it really _was_ out of boredom and impatience.

Eventually, the entire atmosphere of the room changed as the air around them seemed to grow heavier.

"Greetings," spoke a dignified gentleman as he approached the group of soldiers. Before he opened his mouth to speak more words, he walked over and stood before them with his palms crossed behind his back."

"I am General Caraway, General of the Galbadian Army. It is me whom you will be working for throughout the duration of this top secret operation."

"Thank you, General," Anderson replied. "It is an honor to finally meet with you."

"Yes, I'm sure it is," Caraway replied in his usual proud manner. It was evident in not only his words but also his posture, his home and even etched into his face. The way he presented himself bled like pus from the very pores of his skin as though his pride and sense of self-satisfaction were symptoms of an infectious disease.

Everything about the man screamed success and honor.

"Please allow me to introduce myself and my men," the Captain requested.

"Very well," Caraway pleasantly replied. "I will allow you to present your unit. Proceed, you have permission."

"Thank you sir," Anderson replied with a sharp salute. "I am Charles Anderson, captain and leader of this unit. The man to my left," he said, pointing the man out, "is Brutus Armstrong, Heavy Soldier, First Lieutenant. The short man on his right is Gary Burns," he continued, gesturing towards the person in question, "Scout, Soldier of the Galbadian Army: Level five. Behind me is Frederic Johnson," he explained, as Johnson saluted to make himself known, "Sniper, First Lieutenant. Next to him," the Captain said, walking to the back of the room to point out another man, "is Jerry Holfern, Medic, Recruit. The man in the back is Cecil Forston, Elite Soldier. Finally, the lad over there by the window is Danny Jefferson, Generalist, also a recruit."

"I'm pleased to meet you all," Caraway said, not breaking eye-contact with the Captain, speaking to and only him as though he were a representative of all his men, which of course, he was. That was the way Caraway saw it. In the Galbadian Military, that was the way it was.

"I believe it is now time for us to begin. Follow me to the briefing room."

"You have a briefing room in your home?" Brutus asked with a raised eyebrow. "What is this, a mansion or your own personal base? I guess it pays to be rich."

"It's surprising," Danni added. "It's not too hard to imagine…"

"What?" Anderson asked him.

"A well respected General running a home with the capabilities of a Military base."

"You are afraid I may prove disloyal and launch a civil war against the President?" Caraway asked, speaking for the first time since he had begun showing the men through his home.

"Don't get me wrong," the recruit defended. "I'm not accusing you of anything. It's just that, well…"

"I'll admit it does seem a possibility. That's why security measures have been taken."

"Security measures?"

"I believe you have met him. An emissary sent by the President to act as my body guard."

"The President doesn't trust you?" Anderson asked, raising an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that the two of you were good friends."

"Allies, perhaps," Caraway replied. "We're here," he informed them, stopping by a plain looking wooden door that blended in well to the hallway. "Besides, none of this is any of your concern. You would all do well to forget this conversation ever took place, am I clear?"

"Yes sir," Anderson replied. "Is that clear!?" he ordered his unit to agree.

"Sir!" they all replied in unison, saluting.

"Not to sound disrespectful," Danni commented on the door "but aesthetically speaking, this is kind of a disappointment. I was rather expecting to see chrome."

"You mean like this?" Caraway asked as he opened the door.

The room before them was so cold and bright that it was blinding.

Caraway showed the men in and then locked the door behind him.

"In the next room is a table. I would like you please to all take a seat. I will be with you all shortly. Captain Anderson, may I have a word in private? There is something we must discuss before the briefing."

"Sir?" Anderson asked.

Caraway waited until the two were alone before speaking and when he did, it was in a hushed voice.

"Your recruit…"

"He meant no disrespect.

"Clearly, but even so, I would have thought he would have had better discipline by now. He _is_ enlisted in the military after all. An undisciplined soldier is no different from a corpse."

"He is eccentric, I'll admit. War changes people, however. He'll be lucky if his artisan's spirit stays with him."

"Oh," Caraway deduced "So as a soldier he is virgin?"

"Yes," Anderson replied. "He has yet to kill a man."

"I see. Then this may prove difficult. I truly hope that he does not become a burden on this operation."

"He'll be fine. As the officer in charge, I take responsibility and vouch for his ability, even if he has yet to stain his hands with the enemy. By the way, what is this operation, if I may be permitted to ask?"

"You may not."

"Excuse me?"

"All will be explained in the briefing room. In there and in there only."

"I see," Anderson answered. _Who's being eccentric now_ – he internally criticized.

In the briefing room the soldiers saw that the table in question was the customary 'standard large steel war room table' and around it were situated many other soldiers of various ranks although they noticed that many of them happened to be privates.

As was customary in the Galbadian Army during large-scale operations, the standard ratio was being implemented here. There were four privates for every officer.

Anderson happened to notice this as he walked into the room and was faced by the overwhelming numbers of his fellow soldiers.

"General, what is the meaning of this?" he asked Caraway who had walked into the room behind him.

"Please just sit down," the proud man replied, walking across the room to address the soldiers all as one. "Everyone," he began. "This is a top secret operation that all of you have been chosen for. You are to tell no one and no one is to find out about this. I plan to strike swiftly and secretly. Our target is not to know we are coming until we are upon their doorstep."

"And who exactly _is_ our target" Brutus spoke up. "Are you planning on letting _us_ know or is that a secret as well?"

"Our target is the Dukedom of Dollet. We will launch a two-pronged attack, invading from land and also from the sea. All your old assignments are no-longer valid. From this moment forth, you are all to be assigned to one of two units."

"Most of our ranks are raw recruits. A task like this cannot be done without seasoned fighters," Anderson interjected.

"There is an officer for every four privates, as is customary" Caraway told him simply. "Half of you will blockade the area, sealing off all roads leading out of Dollet. The rest of you are to secure the area. Make sure to wipe out all forms of defense."

"Wipe out… this is an act of war. There is no reason for it," Anderson spoke up. "The world has been at peace for almost eighteen years. What good do you expect to come from making our every border a battleground? Rather than starting conflict anew we should be attempting to resolve the situation in Timber!"

"Remember your place, Captain!" Caraway chided. "This entire operation is an order by the President!"

"President Deling… but why?"

"As a soldier, you need not burden yourself with the why. All that you need is the how. If the defensive forces surrender, you are to take them prisoner and send them to the team guarding the main road. They will be held in the D-District Prison until their government concedes to us, at which point they will be released. Do _not_ kill them once they have surrendered. Prisoner and civilian casualties will not be tolerated under any circumstances."

"D-District is not a POW camp, what is the President thinking?"

"That order is mine personally" Caraway corrected. "Make sure to carry it out."

"But-"

"Make sure to carry it out," Caraway repeated dangerously."

"Yes sir."

"Now, if and when their forces retreat, you are to herd them out of the city towards the mountains where they will likely try to organize a final stand."

"Then what?"

"Then nothing. You must hold the city. As long as their forces stay in the mountains you need not let them concern you. Once the city district is secured, you are to blockade the bridge leading toward the mountain district to prevent their return. Under _no_ circumstances are you to allow them entrance back into the city."

"Then what?"

"Then… Major Biggs will take over. He will be leading his unit into the mountain District. He is my partner in this. I am commanding the assault on the city while he will be personally leading troops into the mountains to finish things.

"Then why bother to take prisoners? You intend to wipe them out completely!" Anderson objected. "Don't you people up on top understand anything!? You're going to create another situation like the one in Timber! Galbadia is already unpopular with the rest of the world. If we don't-"

"Please remember your place," Caraway warned yet again . "Major Biggs will take control of the situation. That is all you soldiers need to know. The rest of the plan is highly classified.

"But why!?"

"Why must you insist on challenging my every order?" Caraway calmly yet sternly asked. "I have warned you more than once about this now respect my authority. The rest of the plan is _highly classified information_ known only by Major Biggs and the men under his command. Even I only know the generic details. We do not need to know the specifics of Biggs' role in this. Unnecessary information is naught but a burden. Am I clear on this?"

"…Yes sir."

* * *

Squall placed his elbow on the desk and rested his face in the palm of his hand.

_She's late again_, he inwardly complained. What was it about her? Why did she always manage to be late?

It was an informed question of an interesting quirk; Interesting, but also unfortunate. Her continued tardiness to her own classes was in no way a good thing. It reflected badly on her, but it was the students who truly suffered because of it. The class only had so much time to complete their preparations for the SeeD exam.

If students were to fail because of an unfit instructor, then all their time would have been wasted. An entire year wasted. In military situations, unfit leaders were often removed from power. Squall couldn't imagine what would become of Instructor Trepe if she were an officer of the military. Generals of the Galbadian Army didn't show up late. If they did, they simply wouldn't last. They'd be demoted or at the very least have their pay cut, or perhaps even taken from them.

Squall thought it a wonder that anyone would put Instructor Trepe in charge of this class. Comparing her record of achievement, many of her students wound up failing. For the past semester, her class had only a forty percent pass-rate.

Of course it wasn't _all_ her fault. Love-struck teenagers, consumed by lust, these were the people making up the majority of her students. How could she help it if most of Garden's student body found themselves uncontrollably attracted to her?

Her students, they were the ones who stared, eyes glazed, and trickles of drool seeping from the corners of their mouths. They were the ones who dreamed. They were the ones who fantasized. They were the ones who lay awake at night, torturing themselves with what-if's; and they were the ones who ultimately failed.

Still, even _if_ the Instructor's appalling pass-rate was something out of her control; it still didn't change the fact. Quistis Trepe was statistically the worst Instructor of the last semester. Why she was chosen to teach the SeeD candidates remained a mystery. Usually, the highest ranking Instructor would teach, just as only the highest ranking students were permitted to attempt attaining the title SeeD.

Squall had been studying hard for this day. This was a test about Balamb Garden's secret weapon, the Guardian Force.

After each revised unit, there was a test, likely practice for the final. The pass threshold was eighty percent and one failure meant an automatic disqualification from the SeeD program.

There had already been tests for History, Advanced Mathematics, Basic Human and Monster Biology, and Para-Magic.

Students were given an entire theory lesson with which to actually take the test and while that may have seemed like a lot of time, it really wasn't; and what was worse, the Instructor _still_ hadn't arrived. Time was passing them by and they still hadn't so much as had a single glimpse of the test paper.

In front of him, Squall could hear the sound of fingers drumming against a desk. That was obviously Zell.

The next sound to be heard was that of the automated door sliding open. Squall looked up slightly and then returned his head back down to focus on his desk.

_So she's finally here,_ he mentally noted. _It's about time. Maybe now we can finally start._

"Sorry I'm late," the instructor apologized. "There was a problem making copies of the test. It was a big technical failure.

"The instructor looks tired," one of the students noted.

"Instructor!" another called out from his seat in the front row. "You look so stressed." He literally jumped out of his seat and launched himself across the room. "Please allow me to rub your delicate shoulders." Wasting no time, the student began to massage the Instructor's shoulders, ignoring, or perhaps not noticing the many malevolent death glares he was receiving from most of the class. Quistis Trepe was an idol, one that he was desecrating with his repugnant touch. "Your life must be so stressful, dear instructor. You should visit a health spa. It would be so relaxing for you. Please allow me to take you."

Quistis couldn't contain a slight blush at the thought.

"Please, if you want me to relax, then all of you just do well on today's test," she said in an effort to ward off one of her more forward students.

"Really?" the student asked, sounding disappointed.

"Yes. I'm just a little tired, that's all."

"The instructor needs caffeine!" another student called out, leaping from her desk and running from the classroom. "Cappuccino, ho!" she cried as she sprinted at full speed out of the classroom."

"Of course you realize," Quistis uttered with a sigh of exasperation, knowing full well that such warnings were too late, "that leaving the room signifies forfeiting the test, thereby disqualifying you from the final SeeD exam.

After taking a quick glance at the clock on the back wall, Quistis decided to waste no more time and hand out the test papers to her students. There had already been a rather large delay in creating the test. There was no need to make her students wait further. It wasn't fair on them. As it stood, they were now disadvantaged in comparison to students of previous years.

It would be unfortunate if any of them were to fail because of that reason. She'd appeal for a resit of course, but it probably wouldn't do any good. There were no second chances in the SeeD testing system. To fail one test was to fail the entire program. It was an unfair and demanding process, but there was no denying that it served its purpose.

The very reason behind the SeeD exam was to weed out the weak, ensure that only the finest could qualify, and see that only the best of the best had even a chance of actually succeeding. If these students failed, it would normally be a black mark on the Instructor's record but this class was taking place between semesters and as such, was not officially on record. The only purpose was to test potential candidates and eliminate them so that only the most prestigious and most worthy remained to qualify for the final exam.

Fortunately for the students, it didn't take too long to hand out the test papers and they still had the greater half of an hour with which to complete the test.

Squall silently looked over the front page of his test paper.

_Student id: 41269_

_SeeD examination pre-test #002406: demonstrate knowledge of Guardian Forces_

_Do not open or mark this booklet until you are given permission to begin. Failure to comply will result in failure of the test and possible disciplinary action. It is requested of you to read these instructions before you begin. This test is made up of twenty questions. A minimum score of 80% is required to pass. Anyone caught copying, talking or otherwise suspected of cheating will have their test revoked and score an automatic zero._

_Please answer all questions neatly in pencil only. For multi-choice questions, please check one box only with pencil, unless otherwise stated. Failure to comply will result in that question being deemed incorrect._

_Failure of this test will result in students being purged from the SeeD program._

_You have fifty minutes to complete the test. It is advised you spend no more than two minutes on a single question. If a question is deemed too difficult, it is advised you skip it and come back to it at the end if there is time._

Squall looked up at the Instructor's desk.

"You may begin," Quistis informed her class. Her voice was followed by the sound of flipping pages. "You have a little less than forty minutes remaining to complete the test. Good luck."

Squall quickly opened his test booklet and turned to the first page. He picked up the supplied pencil from his desk. For the purposes of this test, they were sitting in the examination room which contained conventional student desks, like those contained within secondary schools. The desks were spread out evenly like a checker box grid or simple lattice.

Desks were spread out to prevent cheating and reduce the students' urge to talk. They were arranged in such a way that isles formed between them like adjoining bars between cells in a grid.

Squall took his pencil in hand as he considered the first question.

_Question one: state at least three advantages to Junctioning a Guardian Force._

Squall knew that one right away. It was simple. Junctioning was advantageous to both parties involved. It increased the capabilities of the Junctioner's body, mind, and spirit; as well as giving them special abilities.

It was also advantageous to the Junctioned spirit, the Guardian Force, because it increased the spirit's power. As the Junctioner gained power and increased their skills through battle experience and the like, the Junctioned spirit grew at an equal rate.

The third was a little more difficult. The only thing that came to mind was the scientific capabilities. As Guardian forces grew in power, they unlocked certain capabilities that would have otherwise remained undiscovered. In essence, Garden was doing a big favor to the scientific community by using their own operatives as guinea pigs.

Other effects, both good and bad, would likely be discovered in time.

* * *

Squall walked silently to the front of the class after the test was over, handing his paper to the Instructor before leaving the room.

As far as tests went, that one wasn't _too_ difficult. It was actually pretty easy, when compared to other tests issued by Garden. All of these so-called 'practice tests' were twenty questions long and had a pass threshold of eighty percent, meaning students were allowed to get up to four questions wrong without the risk of failure, but any more than that would result in said student being _purged_, as the faculty put it.

End of semester tests were usually about the same length, although it wasn't set. Some tests had more while others had less. The questions tended to be slightly easier however, and the pass threshold was lower, requiring only half of the questions to be answered correctly to be treated as a passed course.

The one exception to the rule was for those cadets aspiring to become SeeD. They would need at least an average of seventy five percent in order to even qualify for the training.

Squall wasn't exactly sure how well he'd done but was certain that he'd gotten most of the questions right.

There had been really only one question that had given the brunet any trouble.

_Question seven: Discuss the origin of the Arcane Guardian Force, Diablo._

Squall was sure he'd never covered that in class. He wasn't even aware that there _was_ an Arcane-type Guardian Force. He'd heard the name Diablo mentioned once or twice however. It was part of an ancient myth about a monster that had terrorized the Centra Continent.

Going on that, Squall had been sure that it had something to do with the Centrian Empire, before its fall.

Squall honestly didn't know whether or not he'd gotten that question right. He hoped that he'd gotten the rest of the test correct to make up for it.

"So, that's another one down," Zell said, running to catch up with the evasive brunet. Squall merely nodded and looked up ahead, a slight panting telling him that Selphie was trying approach his other side.

He wasn't particularly sure why, but these two were still hanging around him like rats around a famous restaurant kitchen. Even now they were flanking him from both sides, as though launching a two-pronged attack.

"I finally caught up with you guys," Selphie announced between breaths. "So how do you think you did?" she asked.

"Yo, Selphie," Zell replied. "I know _you've_ done all this before, but _we_ haven't. We're not going to have to retake the test all over again in our heads, are we? It was bad enough the first time."

"Why should I be the only one to do it twice?" Selphie protested, pouting immaturely, and then producing an evil laugh like that of a mad scientist in an old movie. "So Squall, do you think you passed?"

"I… I guess so," Squall replied. "I knew most of the answers so I don't think I could've gotten more than four wrong."

"Oh, man. You're lucky. I was literally just guessing all the way through it," Zell admitted sheepishly.

"Gee Zell, most people at least cram the night before. Didn't you even do _that _much?" Selphie asked him disappointedly.

"Hey, studying's not my thing."

"Wow, I'm shocked!" Selphie quipped, feigning surprise and earning an amused grin from the brunet in the middle.

"Anyway, isn't it bad to cram the night before a big test?"

"It's also bad to neglect your studies, particularly for the SeeD program."

"That's something I'd expect Squall to say," Quistis joked, passing the three of them with the class' test papers in hand, likely on her way to deliver them to the headmaster's office.

"Anyway," Selphie said, changing the subject after the Instructor had passed them all by. "What have we got left to do for afternoon class?"

"We've covered basic junctions and both hand-to-hand, and weapon combat, as well as para-magic, but we still need to do GF training. I think that's all that's left," Zell informed her, counting it all off on his fingers.

"Really?" Selphie replied, somewhat amazed. "I didn't think we'd done all that already."

"We've been doing this for a few weeks now."

"I know, it's flown by, right Squall?"

"I dunno" Squall muttered, shrugging his shoulders. "I thought it would have been harder than this."

"Hey, speak for yourself!" Zell countered. Both Squall and Zell's test scores had always been below average. Not quite so bad as to be considered sub-standard, but they _were_ in the bottom half of the class.

Lately however, Squall's grades had been climbing. That was where the similarities between his and the blond brawler's ended. Whereas Squall's test scores had recently been improving and heading on a steady uphill gradient, Zell's had not.

"So Selphie," the blond said, seemingly out of the blue. "If you've done all this before, what can you tell us about the practical GF test?"

"I don't know," Selphie replied thoughtfully. "To tell the truth, This Garden places a large emphasis on paramagic. I'm not really used to it. At Trabia Garden, we focused more on Physical training, and although I loved Trabia, this magical environment kind of suits my style more, I think."

"Hey, that's great!" Zell replied enthusiastically. "But what about GF?"

"We only covered it briefly. We split up into teams and one of us would Junction a GF while the others acted as backup. Then we went out into the Snow Fields with an Instructor to observe us as we fought monsters."

"What kinds of monsters did they have in Trabia?"

"Mainly Gaylas and Mesmerizes, but there were also Bite Bugs, huge insects with giant jaws that, well, that bite you."

"Yeah, we get those here, as well."

"I'll bet you don't get Snow Lions though. Those things are huge! _They_ sure don't go down easy."

"No, we don't have those here. I've never even seen one."

"Yeah, well, it's probably not cold enough in Balamb. You're forests tend to be filled with giant caterpillars."

"Hey, don't underestimate those things or they'll spawn all over you."

"Ew, and I thought those plant things in the Training Centre were gross."

Squall listened to their conversation. He didn't partake in it, he just stood and listened, following the dogs on either side of him as they herded him into place like a sheep. They herded him to where they wanted to go, to where they usually went, the cafeteria.

They didn't bother to ask or to talk about it. They always went there. It had simply become a part of their daily schedule. It had become part of life. Morning classes with Quistis, then a break at their regular table in the Cafeteria, then to the Training Centre for a lesson with Instructor P, then they'd spar or hunt in the training centre.

Squall would practice fighting hand to hand with Zell and magically with Selphie. Each of them had their own talents. Squall wasn't as strong or fast as Zell, nor was he as magically capable as Selphie, so they each served as a decent opponent, just as Seifer had in the past with swordplay.

Squall was inferior to each of his teammates in their respective fields of expertise, but to compensate, he was more of a balanced out warrior, capable of fighting with fist, blade, and magic. A few had commented that they had a good dynamic, and that the three of them made a good team, although Squall couldn't help but feel bothered slightly by something.

His own role in the team was unneeded, or rather, he didn't have one. Zell was the assault fighter while Selphie was the support. They had no medic and Hyne knew that Squall wasn't cut out to be a leader. They didn't have a leader at all, really. Unlike Seifer and his posse, they just kind of worked together, sharing the work evenly.

He let out a sigh and sat down. They had reached their table at the cafeteria. Squall's inner melancholy at a time of celebration went unnoticed as people began to gather around them.

"Hey, Selphie, how about a game?" The brunette may have been new but her happy, go lucky attitude had made her a rather popular and well known face around Balamb Garden, as had her keen mind and eye. She'd soon become the new person to beat on the Triad board. "Come on, bring out your cards. I challenge you!"

-S-K-I-P-

"Hrmn…" Selphie furrowed her brow as she took in her options. This was clearly her greatest battle yet. She did what she always did. She considered all her options and turned her mind into a sieve as she quickly filtered through every possible strategy she could come up with.

Suddenly, a smile came to grace her lips. She turned her attention from the grid and her opponent, opting to look at the two cards lined up side by side, immediately before her on the table. She picked up the left-most card and placed it on the Triad grid.

There once was a time when inhabitants of Garden bought official Triad game mats from a store in Balamb, but sensing the growing popularity from the card game, Headmaster Cid had ordered that three-by-three grids be placed into the tables themselves, protective glass panels saving them from being defaced.

Such an act had given him immense popularity among SeeD members – of whom the Card Game was very popular, but it had also effectively turned the Cafeteria into a Triad Den.

"Hah, I just took your Bite Bug, Selphie," the SeeD candidate sitting across the table informed her. "That makes the score six-four, to me. It looks like this is the day you finally loose." Selphie gasped and her eyes widened in horror.

"Oh no!" she cried out to the murmuring crowd around her, before curling her lips upward and placing her last card in the only available slot on the grid, taking two of her opponents cards, one from the bottom and the other from the left. This was enough to end the game with the score tipped in her favor. "Looks like I win again," she taunted, "and the fact that you gave me no choice but to beat you only makes this victory all the sweeter."

"Me next," a SeeD member replied, taking the candidate's place in the seat at the table.

"Hey, do you guys want to sit in for me," the brunette asked, turning to face Squall and Zell in turn. They both declined. "Aw, come on Squall. I'll teach you how to play."

"Why, what's the point," Squall asked her.

"It's fun. Besides, I've collected _so _many cards over the last two weeks… here, I'll give you half." She flipped through her cards, sorting them into two reasonably equal piles and slid one of them in Squall's direction.

He picked them up and casually looked them over. There were twenty cards, and what he knew of the game told him that they all seemed to be level five and under. They were the cards of an intermediate player.

"Come on Squall, if you're gonna be a SeeD, you'll be expected to play cards."

"While I realize the truth of that statement," Squall answered her thoughtfully, "I don't understand it."

"All SeeD play cards," the SeeD member at the table informed him, "now come on, who am I playing against?"

"Come on Squall," Selphie pleaded. "If you learn from anyone, it may as well be someone from Trabia. There's a _reason _why I haven't lost once since coming to Balamb."

"…Fine," Squall eventually agreed.

"Hey, don't get cocky just because you come from Trabia. If the CC were to challenge you, you wouldn't stand a chance."

"Who's that," Zell asked.

"A discussion for another time," the SeeD informed him.

"So anyway Squall, consider this a practice match," Selphie told him. "You don't mind do you," she asked the SeeD.

"Not at all, as long as you embrace the fact that you have already lost."

"How reassuring, Selphie replied, "can't you go easy on us, it's his first time playing."

"Sorry, I don't go easy on _anyone._"

"Alright then. Squall, go through those cards I gave you and pick out any five you want." Squall did as he was instructed, picking mostly level four monster cards. "Good," Selphie encouraged. "There are three types of rules that govern the game. These are basic rules, advanced rules and trade rules. The basic rules are rather simple. The game is played on a three-by-three grid like this one. Players take turns placing a card somewhere on the grid."

Squall nodded to show that he understood.

"I'll let you go first," Selphie said to the SeeD.

"Okay," he said. "Since this is a practice match, we'll keep it simple. No advanced rules and no trade rules." Once having said that, he picked five cards and held them in his hand, placing the rest in his pants pocket. Squall did the same, holding his five chosen cards like a hand of cards in poker.

"Alright Squall, the way games are scored is rather easy. Both players begin with five points. Every time you take one of your opponent's cards, you gain a point. Every time your opponent takes one of your cards, you lose a point."

"Well that's a pretty stupid system," Zell commented.

"Do you mind," Selphie chided.

"Sorry," Zell sheepishly apologized.

"Anyway, do you understand how it works, Squall?"

"I think… but when you say 'take your opponents cards,' does that mean you get to keep them at the end of the game?"

"Possibly, depending on the trade rule. There are a few different ones, however the most popular trade rule is 'one,' in which you get to pick any one card from your opponent's hand to keep after you beat them. Now, look at the card on the grid," the girl explained, pointing out the card the SeeD member had just played. "See the numbers in the corner? Each one represents one side of the card. The top number is for the top of the card, the left-most number is for the left side, and so on. If the number on your card is higher than the number on his card then you take his card and score a point, while he will lose a point."

"So then this card can beat that his one," Squall pointed out, showing her one of the cards from his hand.

"If you place it to the right of his one, then yes," Selphie agreed. Squall placed it on the grid in the top middle position on the grid, thereby taking his opponent's first card and taking an early lead. "Nice one, Squall. You catch on quick."

His opponent merely sneered and placed a second card to the right of Squall's, bringing the score back to a draw.

"Oh no, he lured us… and we fell for it," Selphie commentated.

Being unable to take any cards, Squall played defensively, sticking to the grid's border to hide the exposed weak sides of his cards, but the strategy was futile. The SeeD he was against had better cards based on rare and powerful monsters.

Squall played another card to protect the weak underside of one of his cards, only to have it taken out by a Ruby Dragon. The game dragged on as turn by turn, the SeeD increased his lead over the beginner until each space in the grid had been filled.

"Looks like I win," the SeeD boasted, collecting his cards and standing to his feet. "Next time, I want to face _you_, Selphie. Not one of your newbie friends. Oh, and what was your name," he asked his defeated opponent.

"Squall," the brunet told him.

"Squall, right. I'll keep an ear out for you. Don't feel discouraged from this defeat. Just know that you had no hope of winning. If anything, you should be flattered that I was the first person you ever lost to. "

"It's just a game," Zell pointed out to the Arrogant SeeD. "Don't let it go to your head."

"Listen, Squall. When you improve your skills, I want a rematch, okay?"

"Whatever," Squall replied dismissively.

"Don't feel bad for losing," Selphie assured him. "You can't win 'em all, and besides. Not everyone can win their first game."

"Did you?"

"Well, yeah, but that's not the point. It wasn't a fair match, anyway. His cards were just too good for us. It was the cards that beat you, not the player. I figured he'd be using the same low-ranking monster cards as everyone else. It's my fault, sorry."

"It doesn't matter."

"Well, I'll play with you for fun whenever you want, so feel free to practice your skills on me whenever you need to," Selphie offered. "Then, when you get good enough, you can start challenging people with different trade rules. It's a little more risky but if you win, you get to keep some of your opponent's cards and build up your collection, and trust me, that's when the fun starts." Squall nodded. Selphie turned to Zell. "What about you, "she asked him, "Do you want me to teach you, as well?"

"Ah, sorry," the brawler replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Cards just aren't my thing. I prefer fighting for real."

"Okay, your loss," Selphie replied.

"Instructor?" Zell asked, catching the other two by surprise, but sure enough, there she was. Instructor Trepe.

"Squall, I saw your match. I must say, it was very adventurous of you to challenge him, but I think you'll need to build a stronger collection if you hope to progress in the Triad world."

"I know," Squall replied awkwardly, "and Instructor?"

"Yes?"

"Technically, he challenged me." Quistis' eyes widened in surprise.

"Is… that so?" she asked.

"Why, what is it," Selphie asked.

"Oh, nothing. He didn't mention anything strange, did he?"

"No," Squall replied.

"Actually, there _was_ something," Selphie contradicted.

"Oh yeah, something about someone named CC," Zell added, "Do you know who that is?"

"No… but I suspect that things will become clear in time… if you'll excuse me," Quistis replied, turning and heading toward the Cafeteria's exit.

"Strange… what do you think that was about," Zell asked.

"Who knows," Selphie responded.

* * *

"You see Squall," Selphie announced loudly, although thankfully, no one else was around to hear her, "I _knew_ there was a reason why we became Dorm mates. I was _supposed _to teach you how to play cards!"

"I doubt that," Squall dismissed.

"Hey, don't be so sure," Selphie countered, trying to sound convincing, "think about it. Since we sleep in adjoining rooms, we're going to have a lot of time together. That makes me the perfect person to teach you."

"What's the big deal with this card game anyway," Zell asked, seemingly out of the blue, at least that's how it seemed to Selphie.

"You just don't understand," she told him. "If you played, then you'd know. Only once you start winning and collecting cards, will you see the fun in it."

"It sounds like nothing more than a distraction," Squall commented.

"What was that," Zell asked.

"Ah, nothing," Squall replied.

"Well, whatever you said, this whole Triple Trade game-"

"Triad," Selphie corrected him. "You should at least learn the name of the game before you bash it. Geez, didn't anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't knock something before you try it?"

"Yeah, Triad, that's what I meant to say."

"Sure you did."

"I did! Anyway, the whole thing basically just sounds like a distraction."

"Yeah, well, it is, in a way," Selphie admitted.

_That's what I said,_ Squall internally commented.

"Something wrong, Squall," Selphie asked.

"…no."

They finally reached their destination, the Training Centre, to find it relatively empty. Only Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin were there to greet them. That fact, of course was not unexpected. This test was to be done in groups of six, or more specifically, groups of three.

Guardian Forces were to be split up to a ratio of one between three students. The groups would then be sent to different areas in guardian, such as the Training Centre, The Quad, The Front Gate, and other large areas where they could fight unheeded by restricting environments.

Two groups would be sent to each location and would fight head to head while an Instructor or SeeD member watched, taking note of their battle performance.

"Well now, look who it is," Seifer commented as his rival's motley crew approached he and his finely groomed posse. "It looks as though the Lion Cub is here to challenge the full might of the Disciplinary committee. I hope you realize that we're going to be victorious in this little exercise. I've never lost to you _once_, Leonheart!"

"Funny," Xu said as she approached them. "I seem to remember beating your ass quite thoroughly. It's a shame really. I was hoping to dampen your ego somewhat."

"_That_ was hardly a fair fight. You were faster, we were outnumbered, and you sealed me up in some messed up bizzaro world."

"It was the realm of Darkness, actually."

"Yeah yeah, what are you doing here, anyway?"

"I'm the SeeD member in charge of this fight. It's my job to assess whether or not you lot are competent and capable of supporting a Guardian Force in combat. It's also my job," she said, walking closer and standing directly between Squall and Seifer, while raising her arms outstretched and pointing a finger at each of the two youths, "to make sure you two don't kill each other."

"That won't be a problem, Ya know!" Raijin answered.

"Well, it wouldn't," Seifer added, "if the lion cub over there weren't so fragile."

"Enough," Xu commanded, silencing the egotistical blond. "Squall, come here. For this fight, you are to be given the GF: Shiva."

"What a surprise," Seifer commented loudly. "The cold bitch gets a cold bitch to Junction."

"Would you shut up," Xu asked, beginning to lose her patience.

Squall approached Xu and she placed a hand on his forehead.

"What the hell are you doing," Zell asked.

"I currently have two GF Junctioned," she replied. "It's an incredible strain on my mind to Junction multiple GF but it is necessary. If we were to send GF back to their special items, then you would have to fight The GF before they would allow you to Junction them. To avoid that, they must be kept Junctioned at all times, however this is not always possible. For that reason, we have a device in place to take care of the matter. This is the purpose of the Electronic Junction within the Garden's computer network."

"Electronic Junction," Zell asked.

"It's a fabricated environment for GF to live in when they're not Junctioned," Seifer explained.

"Right, so what do you mean by 'Special Items?'"

"They are magical artifacts," Xu explained, "from which GF originate. They are quite commonly exquisite pieces of jewelry, such as rings. For example, Shiva's item was a heavy golden necklace. Not much else is known, however."

"Actually," Seifer argued, "There is more."

"Yes, but I am speaking from a factual standpoint. Myths and stories are one thing but I need indisputable evidence before I would consider believing in them."

"What about the Sorceress War?"

"That doesn't prove anything, and you know it."

"Fine, live on in ignorance, then. It's your own fault for denying the truth when it is presented before you in an easily researchable format."Xu rolled her eyes and pressed her palm to Squall's forehead once more and concentrated.

A physical junction was simple, but the sheer size of the torrent of magic being transferred made it a difficult and even painful process.

Squall could feel it as the SeeD forced the GF into his mind. It felt like a brain freeze, no, worse than that. It was like his body were freezing over from the inside, starting with the interior of his cranium.

Squall was able to endure the pain and thankfully, it did not last forever. It soon died down, to be replaced by a feeling of clarity. He quickly ran through the exercises regarding Junctioning magic, and was able to boost the capabilities of his body. He grit his teeth as he felt his muscles begin to bulge and ache.

"Alright, I'm next, right," Seifer assumed, walking up to the SeeD, and shoving Squall out of his way.

"Actually, no," Xu replied, almost amusedly.

"What," the blond demanded.

"Ifrit is being used elsewhere so your group has been assigned Quetzacotl. Raijin, step forward."

"Hey! I'm the leader," Seifer demanded.

"Then take a supportive position and lead your squad to victory," Xu dryly stated, placing her palm on Raijin's large bicep.

Once she was finished, she stepped back, out of the way.

'You may begin," she commanded. Seifer Sneered and instantly began charging up his Paramagic.

"Fire," he cried, as a large ball of flame formed in his hand and began hurtling toward its summoner's rival.

"Thunder," Raijin blurted with a smug grin.

"Aero," Fujin's harsh vocal commanded.

Squall and his squad instantly scattered to evade the oncoming attacks, and then regrouped where it was safe.

"They won't give us long to talk," Zell noted.

"Then don't talk," Squall retorted, drawing his Gunblade. He was ready to make a charge toward Seifer when a hand grabbed his arm.

"You're the Squad Captain, Squall. What should we do?" Squall instantly lamented being put on the spot like that, but had no time to complain.

"I'll attack head on. Selphie, you cover me."

"Got it," the brunette agreed.

"What about me," Zell asked.

"Try to get behind them."

"Attack from both sides… that won't be easy."

"Just do it."

"Sir," Zell said, jokingly saluting. Squall rolled his eyes and ran headfast toward the three waiting targets.

As Squall sprinted, he somehow felt lighter. He held his Gunblade in one hand and swung it out at an angle diagonally behind him. He knew that his junction with Shiva was increasing his strength, but even so, it was surprising how easily he was able to manipulate the heavy piece of solid metal as he ran. It was like holding a giant feather in his gloved hand.

Behind him, Selphie charged her Paramagic and sent out some of her silencing spells. As far as she could tell, all three of them had hit, making Squall's job easier.

Squall ran, weaving in and out between lightning bolts and fire balls, when they suddenly stopped.

_Good, they must be silenced,_ he figured. He began running strait for Seifer, who had yet to even draw a weapon. He was almost in striking distance when he was suddenly caught up in a strong wind.

The miniature tornado picked him up and dumped him on his head, next to Selphie.

"I thought you silenced them," he accused, looking up at the petite brunette.

"So did I," she replied apologetically. "I have no idea what could have happened."

"You thought you could Silence Fujin, didn't you," Seifer bellowed. "She, by far has the greatest skill in Paramagic than any here. You won't be able to silence her. Her spirit is too strong to be bent with Status Affecting Green-type Paramagic.

"So that's it," Selphie concluded. "And I thought _I _was a skilled magic user. You'd better watch out for her, Squall. Wind cannot be seen. You'll have try and feel out the ripples, but it's risky. I've tried fighting her and I didn't stand a chance."

"We have no choice," Squall replied thoughtfully. "I'll distract them and try to hold them off until Zell can jump out in ambush. If you have any black-type stocked up, it'll come in useful now."

"Squall, this isn't a test of tactics. Just summon your GF. You can't fight all of them on your own."

"I don't want to risk it. I don't know where Zell is, and besides, this is a training match."

"Tell that to them… I'm surprised Zell's managed to stay silent for so long. I can't even sense him." Squall nodded and stood to his feet, picking up his blade in his right hand and charging toward Seifer.

He ran forward, making it into striking distance and jumped high into the air, changing his stance and holding the blade in both hands as he brought it down hard in what would have been a lethal blow if it hadn't been blocked.

The blade was aimed right at Seifer's throat, but the blond was able to draw his own Gunblade and block the attack seemingly effortlessly, even being disadvantaged as he was.

"Look behind you, Leonheart," the blond sneered. Squall narrowed his eyes and ignored him, refusing to fall victim to such an elementary stall tactic – until he could feel a change in the wind.

"Squall," Selphie warned him, "get out of there!"

The Gunblade specialist was able to jump back and roll to safety just as the spot he'd been in was struck with not one, but three bolts of lightning.

_Oh no,_ Squall mused,_ Lightning never strikes more than once. Two is a fluke. For lightning to strike the same place three times marks the arrival of Quetzacotl. What can I do? Should I summon as well?_

_**Calm down, child of Leon,**_ spoke a firm, yet cool voice. Squall looked around but found no one. Who could have said that? Was it Selphie? He had no time to think. The gigantic elemental bird flourished its wings, ready to strike down its target. _**In this form, A Guardian may seem invincible. Powerful? Indeed, but unbeatable, he is not. Do exactly as I say and you may yet taste victory.**_

With no other choice available, Squall decided to trust the voice completely. All he had to do was take out the summoner. If something should happened to interrupt the junction, the summon was rendered void.

Squall charged and ducked. He had to thank Shiva for his enhanced endurance, or he wouldn't be able to keep up with the required high-speed movement. He was able to avoid Seifer, and Fujin didn't seem to be much of a problem at all.

He feigned an attack at Raijin, who blocked, as expected. While the grunt was distracted, Squall cycled around him and swiftly placed himself into position.

As he moved, there were no thoughts crossing his mind. It was as if he weren't conscious at all, as if he had moved without thinking. For the moment, Squall had become a living weapon. It was as if the blood in his veins had been replaced by one of the body's own chemicals, adrenaline.

Squall was so close he could taste the blood splatter. He had just one thing to do. Only one action remained.

He thrust his blade forward –

His final conscious moments were of pain.

All he knew was adrenaline and agony. His every muscle contracted painfully, exposed to the lethal current of a lightning bolt. The clichéd 'flash before one's eyes' never happened. Squall's mind was completely blank, without a single thought.

All he knew was pain, only pain. So much that he couldn't scream. He couldn't even move.

– All he knew was pain.

– And then darkness.

–And after that…

– Nothing.


End file.
